The Pied Piper
by AlixM1234
Summary: Emily Kmetko - beaten and broken has lost both her dream and her man. But then someone completely unexpected shows up and has a proposition that could turn her life around. Well so long as Ellen Beals doesn't ruin it all for her. Set from 2.17 onwards
1. Chapter 1

**This is set around 2.17 – Emily's left for LA and Kaylie is still trying to work her way back into the team. This will mainly be Emily centric to start with but all the other girls will get their moment to shine (or not). **

**Chapter 1: Tears**

Emily Kmetko gripped the edge of her seat tightly. The bus ride was making her nauseous, but then everything was doing that. The gymnast's fingernails were bitten to a quick and her eyes were red and puffy. She had no idea what she was doing: she didn't know if it was the right thing – all she knew was that she couldn't take her life any more. Kaylie Cruz had kissed Damon, or Damon had kissed Kaylie. She wasn't sure which was worse but that had been the final straw – how could she possibly stay in the town where her boyfriend who she loved more than life had cheated on her _after_ he got her pregnant.

Emily looked down at her abdomen the tiny little person inside her had caused so much trouble but she couldn't bear the thought of an abortion. Her Mum had been in an even worse situation than she had and at seventeen but she had stuck through it and done her best for Emily and Brian. Emily's childhood had been hard but she knew she was luckier than Kaylie or Lauren: at least her Mum loved her and Emily wouldn't trade Chloe for the world. Her phone started to ring again – it had been doing it all afternoon. Payson, Kaylie and Damon kept ringing her. It was Payson this time. Emily didn't know what to think about Payson, she was Emily's best friend and closest ally but she couldn't face talking to her. Payson had her whole life ahead of her to achieve her dreams and Emily had nothing. With a sigh Emily pressed 'ignore call' and put her phone back in her bag. She stared out the window: the sooner she got to LA the better.

XXX

Chloe never thought she'd ever see the day where she enjoyed working at a strip club, but being at home was so hard now that any distraction was welcome. At least here she didn't have to see any of the Rock parents or Sasha – she hated to see the pity and contempt on their faces. Sure Emily had made a mistake but that didn't mean people had to rub her face in it ever time she saw them. She sighed and carried out the tray of drinks she had been assigned. When she reached the table she saw a very familiar face

"Steve?"

Steve Tanner, a recently engaged man, turned around quickly, looking very guilty. Chloe gave him the evils. She couldn't believe how immoral Steve was.

"C-Chloe, hi"

"Hey there yourself. What brings you here?"

"Oh just business, you know: we were thinking of buying this place." He said.

Chloe raised an eyebrow "oh honey we dated remember and I can tell when you're lying a mile off."

Steve looked petrified. "Please, Chloe – don't tell Summer."

Chloe glared at him for a while. She wasn't usually a manipulative person but she knew that having power over Steve could be useful. "We'll see Steve." She said as she put the drinks on the table "we will see."

Steve Tanner watched her walk away with a very nervous look on his face.

XXX

The bus ride had taken forever but Emily was finally in LA, wearily she got off the bus where she saw her godmother Margi waiting for her. Just seeing Margi made Emily smile: the woman had a heart of gold and was one of the strongest people Emily knew.

"Margi!" She yelled as she went to hug her godmother.

"Oh honey" Margi said as she put her arms around Emily. Chloe had told her everything but she'd decided to wait until Emily was ready to tell her what was going on.

The drive home was almost silent – Emily was a quiet girl and she was tired and her godmother knew she didn't like to be disturbed when she was in that sort of mood. Eventually they reached Margi's house. It was a big house, almost a mansion: Margi had come from a poor family like Chloe but in her years as a social worker she had had a lot of money left to her in wills, so she'd designed and built this house. She didn't use it selfishly though: she fostered children and she'd always let any of her friends know that they were welcome to stay any time. The house was three stories high and had a swimming pool, tennis courts and a home gym.

"Well here we are M"

"Wow Margi you've done the place up so well!" Emily had only seen it when it was still only half built. "I've always dreamed of owning a place like this" she said sadly.

"And you will sugar, one day." Margi said confidently. "You're the most determined girl I've met and you can have anything you want."

A tear rolled down Emily's cheek. "No I won't I'll never be an Olympian, I don't know how to tell you this." She said tearfully.

Margi lent over and held Emily's hand tightly. "You know you can tell me anything M – and you know I'll always be on your side."

Her kind words just made Emily cry harder "I'm pregnant. I'm a failure."

"No, don't you dare say that about yourself, girl. I won't have that sort of negative talk under my roof."

Emily smiled at Margi's attitude "you're still as tough as ever."

"And you know it. But M you are tough too and we're going to pull through this."

"Thanks Margi that means so much." Margi's words touched Emily. She was the first person who didn't treat Emily like a failure for getting pregnant and seeing the baby like a problem. A detour, sure but hearing those words sparked Emily's old determination. Her life was not over _at all_. She wasn't sure what she was going to be now that she couldn't do gymnastics but she certainly was not going to be a door mat. She was going to take the world head on.

Emily smiled at Margi "you're right Margi – that world is my oyster."

"Atta girl!"

XXX

Lauren checked her watch impatiently. She was at Spruce Juice sitting by herself. She hated looking like a loner; it made her feel like everyone else was watching her. To top it all off she was stressed about the world team – Kelly Parker had taken Emily's spot and Kaylie still had to battle it out with two other girls before she could earn a place on the team. Lauren really wanted Kaylie to get on, she didn't think she'd be able to cope if Parker and her cronies outnumbered the Rock girls and Kelly was made captain. After what seemed like forever her friend finally arrived.

"Oh my God what took you so long?"

"Chill out Lauren I got caught in traffic." Darby said as she came over to kiss Lauren on the cheek. "So babes tell me how's the Rock going?" Darby did not miss coaching there at all: Sasha had been right, she was far too inexperienced to take on such a stubborn group of girls.

"Not too bad – but guess what Emily's pregnant!" Lauren said, enjoying divulging gossip. Although she'd come to regard Emily as almost a friend in the past few months she still felt insecure – and always felt better if she could bring someone else down.

"Emily Kmetko?" Darby asked incredulously.

"Duh – how many other Emilys do we know?" Lauren said pettily.

"The poor girl" Darby muttered very quietly.

"Hello! Darby, it's her own fault. We all knew she was never focused and it was only a matter of time."

"Lo! Don't be so harsh it could happen to anyone."

"Whatever, why are you so uptight anyway?" Lauren said before quickly moving on to talking about some new guy she had a crush on.

Darby ignored the talk about Max and said "so do you know where Emily is?"

"Who cares – what do think about Max doesn't he sound dreamy?"

"Yeah sure Lo, so do you know where Emily is?"

"I don't know why you care so much but she went to LA to visit her godmother. Her name's Margi Jones, apparently she's like some famous social worker so Emily will fit right in with the other drop kicks she takes in."

Darby made a mental note of that information "you're so rough Lo, now keep telling me about Max."

Darby and Lauren talked for a while before Darby had to rush of to take one of her private students. Although her time at the Rock had been a complete failure it had raised her publicity and she'd had offers from all over the place.

When Darby left Lauren got a phone call. "Hello"

"Lauren it's Ellen Beals here how are you?"

"Fine thanks Miss Beals" Lauren replied sycophantically.

"So how was your lunch with Darby?"

"How did you know about that?"

"Your father – not that it's any of your business"

Lauren rolled her eyes and mouthed 'bitch' into the phone "well the lunch was nice."

"Did you tell her about Emily?"

"Yeah I did – is that ok, it's not like a secret or anything is it?"

"No not at all, in fact the more people know about it the better. It should be a warning to all gymnasts wanting to do well not to go around sleeping with guys."

"Yeah totally" Lauren replied guiltily.

"Anyway I was just calling to check in Lauren. Keep up the good work with your training: I expect to see very good things from you in future, with your determination and loyalty to the NGO you are certainly an asset to this sport and to your country."

"Thanks Miss Beals" Lauren said in her girliest voice.

XXX

As soon as she'd got home from her private lesson Darby had googled Margi Jones and found her address. She wasn't about to let Emily give up on her dream and Darby knew that she was probably the only person who could help her.

Darby's phone rang "hello"

"Darby it's Ellen Beals"

"Ellen" Darby said coldly. This didn't bode well.

"I don't want you going near Emily Kmetko."

"And why would I do that?" Darby asked, deliberately playing coy. She was going to make Ellen work for this.

"Don't be stupid. Just because you managed to have a baby and come back does not mean Emily will be able to do the same. For one you had two years before the Olympics to train and for another Emily doesn't have nearly as much mental toughness as you. She's a convicted thief and she consistently disobeyed the rules."

Darby rolled her eyes. She should have known this was coming "I don't remember you thinking I had any mental toughness at all Ellen."

"Well times change, but you're the exception and it's best for everyone that you just let her go off and pursue her mediocre life that she should have pursued all along."

Darby decided that it was best that Ellen be put firmly off the scent. "Don't worry Ellen – I totally agree with you, Emily has no mental toughness at all. I trained her remember and she's not worth the effort." She said as she crossed her fingers behind her back "I promise I won't contact her, why would I? I have my own students to coach."

"Well that is a relief." Ellen said, although she wasn't entirely convinced.

"Bye Ellen, it was a pleasure as always." Darby said sarcastically and hung up. After Ellen's spiel there was no way Darby wasn't going to help Emily: it was just a matter of finding the right time. She opened Google Maps and tried to figure out the best route of getting to Margi Jones's house.

**A/N** **there's the first chapter, it was a bit short b/c it was just there to set the scene. But don't worry there's about to be a lot more drama. Think Damon + Emily finally figuring everything out. The rest of the Rock girls make appearances as they get closer to worlds.**

**Let me know what you think and thanks for reading! xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: To the beat of my drum**

Damon's talk with Chloe had gone far better than he'd dared hope for. It had been almost a month since Emily had left before he'd managed to pluck up the courage to speak to her. Chloe had been mad at first but she'd mellowed and given him Margi's address. He held the small piece of paper in his hands: it presented a choice. He knew he had to at least talk to Emily, he loved her: despite everything they'd gone through. And more selfishly, he couldn't seem to write anything since she'd left because he'd felt so guilty. So with his guitar case in one hand and his duffel bag in the other, he boarded the bus to LA.

XXX

"M – time to get up." Margi called. Emily looked around the room that had been hers for a month. It was roomy and practical. She had a big desk and a queen size bed; it was far nicer than anything she'd had growing up. She got out of bed and looked at her stomach. She was five months pregnant now and she was looking bigger every day – she'd started to wear baggy sweatshirts, but she thought it was obvious she was pregnant. She'd still been going to school though – there was no way she was dropping out. Emily was bright as well as an amazing gymnast and if she couldn't be a gymnast she was going to finish high school and go to college, a baby notwithstanding. Emily trudged down the stairs: since she hadn't been doing gym she'd gotten used to not getting up early.

Margi's three foster children were still sleeping when Emily came into the kitchen.

"Morning" she mumbled.

"Hi honey: I've made scrambled eggs, if you want them?"

"Oh thank you! I'm so glad I'm finally passed having morning sickness."

"I'll bet, M could you sit for a sec?"

"Oh sure" Emily said, confused.

"Now we know that your new addition is going to be arriving in four months or so, have you thought anything about a job?"

Emily was shocked; Margi was putting her on the spot. "Uh well no I've just been focusing on school. How could I be so stupid to not think about this? How am I going to raise another human being?" Emily felt like she was about to cry.

Margi came down and put her arm around Emily. "Honey I wasn't trying to pressure you at all. I think you're amazing with school. You've been getting straight As while combating morning sickness and trying to organise the kids. I only brought up a job because I think I have one for you."

Emily looked at her mentor and grinned "really?"

"Really, and this is far better than the Pizza Shack. I've been thinking of starting up a tutoring programme for struggling kids and I think you'd be a perfect head tutor. I'd provide you with any resources you need and I'd be behind you right the way."

"No!" Emily said emphatically.

"Why?" Margi asked, completely baffled.

"I won't take charity! I have to earn everything I get. I don't want you to give me anything because you pity me."

Margi was silent for a while: she knew the way through to Emily wasn't through yelling or being emotional. "M listen to me, I didn't say one thing about charity. This is an investment, I've wanted to do something like this for a very long time and the perfect person came along. If anything you're doing me a favour – I don't have to go through I recruitment process. I trust you, and you work hard. Furthermore I know you're a good teacher."

Emily was quiet for a while and thought it over. It was probably the best job she was going to get in the short term and she was a good teacher. She often helped the younger girls at the Rock when Lauren was too mean, Kaylie was too impatient and Payson too focused to notice they were asking for help. "Ok Margi – thanks I accept your offer." She said as she went over to hug the older woman. Things weren't looking so bad after all. She could get through this and maybe she wouldn't be a gymnast but she would be a damn good teacher for those kids and she'd work her butt of at school so she could get into a good college.

XXX

"And the girl taking the final spot on the worlds team is...Kaylie Cruz" Sasha announced to his national team. Lauren squealed and put her arms around Kaylie and Kelly Parker gave Sasha a look of steal: it was ok for those girls – Kaylie's parents would have supported her whether she got on the team or not, Kelly's mother was going to kill her. In her true diva style Kelly stood up and walked off.

"Kelly" Sasha said, with his all too familiar warning tone.

"I just need to get some air." Kelly muttered, what the heck was she going to do now?

Kaylie stood up to go after her, put Payson gently put her arm on Kaylie's shoulder. "I'll go, she probably doesn't feel like talking to you at the moment." She looked to her coach "if that's ok with you Sasha?"

Sasha rolled his eyes. His gymnasts were becoming so independent of late, Kaylie with her secret training now Payson leaving a training session? "Fine, go." He said, resigned. "But the rest of you get your arses on the floor, now!"

Payson went to the girls' locker room and saw Kelly sitting on a bench with her arms wrapped around her knees. She looked up when Payson walked in "what do you want?"

"You're as charming as always, Parker."

"And you're naive – really don't need a pep talk from you right now." Kelly said sharply to her former rival. "You and those other little princesses out there have everything you've ever wanted, you don't have to struggle like I do, you have no idea what pressures are put on me!"

Now Payson was just plain mad "shut it Kelly – I broke my back and was told that I could never do gymnastics again, then someone altered a picture of me kissing my coach and guess what? I came back. Lauren's father kept her mother from her and then she _died_ and Kaylie has had to deal with an..." Payson swore internally – she had almost revealed Kaylie's secret.

"Yes? What has Kaylie had to deal with?" Kelly asked eagerly, she knew that if she could get confirmation of this anorexia rumour than Kaylie Cruz would be toast.

"Her mum having an affair with her coach." Payson said lamely.

Kelly rolled her eyes; she had been so close to getting Payson to tell her! "So what about Emily?" Kelly asked snidely.

"Don't talk to me about Emily." Payson said bitterly. Of all her friends, Emily was the one that Payson wanted to succeed more than anyone – and she'd gone and thrown that dream away. Payson thought maybe she'd be able to accept Emily's decision one day, but definitely not now. Payson stood up abruptly and turned to leave. "I was going to offer to be your ally Kelly but if all you care about is dragging people down then we're done." Payson said.

Kelly paused for a second, she was surprised Payson was so angry at Emily: she stored that information away in case Emily did decide to come back: she could use it to turn Emily and Payson against each other. Kelly called out "Payson, wait, I'm sorry ok. I'm just not used to having friends."

Payson turned around and smiled "I kind of noticed – so back to training?"

Kelly laughed "you never stop do you?" She said as she linked arms with the blonde girl.

XXX

It was late at night when Damon arrived in LA; he knew there was no point going to see Emily now so he checked into a scrungy looking hotel. He sighed at how much his life had changed; just eight months ago he'd been living it up in five star accommodation, the next big thing in the music world. Now he had writer's block, gotten the girl of his dreams pregnant and kissed her friend. Sometimes he wondered if his step father was right and that he was a complete drop kick. He shook the thought from his mind and walked up the stairs to his depressing little room. He checked his phone – it was his mother calling. He really didn't want to talk to her right now. Angrily he dumped his duffel bag on the ground and did what he always did when he was upset, he pulled out his guitar and, thinking of Emily, how much he loved her, and this baby he was supposed to support, he began to compose.

Six hours and a couple of scotches later Damon had finished three songs: lyrics guitar, drums, everything. Exhausted he crawled into bed. He hadn't written that much since he'd first met Emily, not even when he was helping Kaylie get over Maeve's death: that had been an emotional time too. But Damon knew now that it was stupid of him, he should not have become involved with her. He groaned at how much drama was in his life at the moment and turned over and switched off his light.

XXX

Emily had had a rough day at school. It had finally become public knowledge that Emily Kmetko was pregnant. Most of the kids had already thought she was weird because she was so focused. Now the stares in the corridor were even more hostile than before and Emily knew that as soon as she walked past most of the girls they talked about her behind her back.

"Oh my God, what a slut."

"She's such a loser too – have you noticed that she's got no friends?"

Emily smiled to herself as they did so – this sort of thing was nowhere near as bad as things had been when she'd first started at the Rock and then when she'd been arrested. She just held her head high like Chloe had always taught her.

It wasn't till she got home that she started to feel sorry for herself – she decided to be a complete drama queen and put on her Adele CD, what better way to mope? She tried to do it quietly but Margi heard her anyway. Her godmother walked in with a cup of hot chocolate

"Rough day?" She asked sympathetically.

Emily forced a smile "nothing I can't handle – I just needed to unwind a bit. I just wish people weren't so mean you know?"

Margi sat by her goddaughter and put her arm around her. "This might cheer you up." She said and handed Emily a letter. "A young man stopped by today. He said that you don't have to see him if you don't want but the address of where he's staying is in the letter."

XXX

Damon had been waiting for Emily to come for three days. He had no idea if she would find him or not – he wouldn't blame her if she didn't. He also knew that he couldn't wait much longer. He had sent recordings of the songs to his agent and the recording company and they were very pleased with his songs. They wanted to give him another shot with an album, and they were willing to pay a lot more for this one, at least something was going right. There was a knock on his door.

"Come in." His heart leapt to his mouth when he saw Emily. No matter how much time had passed since he saw her or how many other girls came his way – he always fell in love with Emily all over again when he saw her.

"Damon" Emily said simply. Damon noticed that Emily was different. Her baby bump was fairly obvious on her slender frame, but it was something in her eyes that startled him. She seemed more sure of herself and more determined than before.

Damon stood up, about to run into her arms. Then he saw the look on Emily's face and instead walked over to her and awkwardly gave her a light hug. "Emily it's so good to see you, how are you?"

Emily ignored the question; she just crossed her arms and glared at him "talk"

Damon shrugged. He deserved that and worse. "I'm sorry, I stuffed up, I suck and I love you. I always have and I always will. Whether you want to do anything about that is up to you."

"And the baby?"

"I'm here for both of you, always." He said softly and put his arm on Emily's shoulder.

"Do you really mean that?" Emily asked in a small voice. She couldn't stay mad at Damon, he technically hadn't cheated on her it was just unfortunate circumstances. Which was pretty much the story of her life she thought bitterly.

"You know I do, so tell me what have you been up to?"

"School, and work – I'm tutoring some foster children to get some extra cash it's really rewarding. I've decided that if I can't be a gymnast I'm going to kick arse at high school and then college. I'm thinking maybe medicine or neuroscience."

Damon's jaw literally dropped when Emily said that, Emily had been determined as a gymnast but he had never seen her this confident.

Emily laughed nervously "why are you staring?" She asked quietly.

"Because you amaze me more each time I'm around you."

Emily beamed "really?"

"Absolutely."

Embarrassed, Emily changed the subject "so what have you been up to?"

"Well I've actually just finished three songs and my agent and the producers love them, they want me to fly back to New York to finish an album." He said, trying not to sound arrogant.

Emily smiled and hugged him "Damon that is amazing!"

"It is, right? Only I don't want to leave you" he looked at Emily's stomach "or the baby."

Emily gripped Damon's arm "listen to me – I'll be fine Margi's got my back and I've got a job. We've always been about following our dreams and that isn't going to change. Sure this baby changes things a bit but that's no reason to give up."

Damon hugged her tightly. "You're amazing Emily. I'll send money as often as I can and I'll be back the second that album is recorded I promise you that."

"And I'll send you updates."

"And the second you go into labour, I'm here."

Emily kissed him and Damon asked "are you sure you want to do this?"

"Why not – I'm already pregnant right?"

XXX

Damon leaving for New York had been awful. She'd had to say goodbye to him many times over the years but this was worse than ever before. She put on a brave face but she was terrified, mostly for the child she was carrying. She really hoped he or she would grow up to know their father.

XXX

Darby had spent the last couple of weeks getting as much information on Emily as she could: she needed to be able to convince her that she was capable of returning to gymnastics. Darby had really admired Emily when she'd coached her and thought she deserved all the help she could get. And she really, really wanted to piss of Ellen Beals – that woman had made her life a living hell when she'd tried to stop Darby competing, she was the only member of the NGO who was aware Darby was pregnant and it had taken some pretty impressive blackmail on Darby's coach's part to keep it that way.

Darby was coaching her best private student Siobhan Matthews on her new beam routine when Ellen Beals walked into Darby's private training room. It was much smaller than the Rock as Darby never coached more than two students at a time – she'd learned from that mistake.

"Hello Darby" Ellen said snidely.

Siobhan turned to look who it was, when she saw it was a member of the NGO she almost fell off the beam in shock. Darby saw that she was distracted "get back to work Siobhan! Your next competition is only two months away and you aren't going to get anywhere with poor focus like that!"

"Wow Darby, actually being tough on your gymnast – who would have thought we'd seen the day?"

"Can I help you, Ellen?" Darby said, ignoring the jibe.

"I was just wondering why you've taken leave for the next few weeks, from all your students."

"It's personal" Darby said indifferently before turning her attention back to the fifteen year old gymnast – "straighten your back, you'll never land that dismount if you slouch on the lead up to it." Darby admonished. She watched Siobhan try again, and stick the dismount properly. "Much better."

Ellen clearly wasn't satisfied "Personal? This wouldn't have anything to do with Emily Kmetko would it?"

"Nope" Darby lied deciding that being nonchalant was the best way to ensure the older woman left her alone.

Ellen walked over to Darby and spoke quietly in her ear so that Siobhan wouldn't be able to hear her "it had better not, Darby because I can promise you if you try to get in touch with that girl I will make sure your coaching career is in ruins. Have I made myself clear?"

Darby suppressed the urge to roll her eyes – Ellen Beals really had a flair for drama. "Crystal, Ellen. Can't a girl visit her sick grandma, honestly." She said "now if that was all Siobhan and I have a dismount to land on."

Ellen stared at Darby for a long time "very well, and by the way you're doing a good job with Siobhan."

Darby watched her leave. Once she was gone Darby let Siobhan go home early. She then drove home and finished packing, she'd collected all her photos from her pregnancy until the time she made the national team again, then the worlds team and eventually the Olympic team, she assumed Emily would want proof. Then she took a taxi down to the small central station in Boulder – ready to board the next bus to Los Angeles.

**A/N so Damon is back, I really like him and Emily together and I couldn't bear for them to be broken up. Please let me know what you thought, and if you have any suggestions. Thanks for reading! xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone, thank you all for you lovely reviews and TheOnceAnonymous don't worry Payson will screw her head back on soon and make up with Emily.**

**Also my obvious non-Americanness is about to show. I have no idea about anything to do with the SATs so if I completely confuse you just smile and nod haha. Anyway enough of my rambling here is the next chapter...**

**Chapter 3: Not done yet**

Emily hadn't been this stressed in a long time – not since Worlds trials. She knew she was good at gymnastics, and she had almost become used to the huge amount of pressures whenever there was a meet. The press, the commentators, the crazy parents cheering them on. But somehow all of that was nowhere near as stressful as studying for her SATs. She was fairly confident with her critical reasoning and writing but maths was not her thing. She smiled sadly as she thought of Razor and how he used to help her. She wondered where he was now and if she knew what happened to her. Emily looked at the problem in front of her – she'd reached her twelfth line of calculation when before she'd realised she'd made a rounding error in the second step. Groaning she threw her pencil against the wall.

Deciding that she was in serious need of a study break Emily put her shoes on and walked to the dairy – she had some major chocolate cravings. At the dairy she got a couple of Hershey's bars and put them on the till. The woman looked at Emily and then looked down at her six month pregnant stomach. Emily then felt the lady's eyes flicker to Emily's left hand. After seeing there was no wedding ring she sniffed her disapproval.

Emily rolled her eyes "Hi there" she said, overly sweetly.

The lady ignored her, picked up the bars, scanned them and said "that's $3.15" without even looking Emily in the eye.

"Thanks, have a great day." Emily smiled overtly, she wanted to make this cow as uncomfortable as possible.

The lady ignored her once again and as Emily walked out she swore she heard her mutter 'slut' under her breath. Emily didn't care, she was used to that sort of treatment – it just made her more motivated to work harder.

She rolled over in her bed, and then realised with a panic that today was the day of the SATs. She was so nervous that she thought she would puke. She got out of bed and pulled on one of the maternity dresses that Margi had bought for her, as she did so she felt her baby kick and she instantly felt better. She wasn't alone, even if the little person inside her had completely changed the course of her life. She went downstairs where Margi had made her poached eggs and freshly squeezed orange juice. Margi's faultless organisation was so different to Chloe's disorganised chaos but she missed Chloe like crazy sometimes. There was a card next to her breakfast, she opened it and smiled when she saw Chloe's scrawl and Brian's strong printing

_Good luck today! We love you_ Brian wrote

_You're my everything – show them what you've got. Hold your head high_ Chloe had added.

She wiped the two tears that escaped down her cheeks and popped the card in her bag. Her family always knew how to cheer her up.

The test was much easier than she'd expected. The stares from the other girls and the averted glances from the boys made her feel like crap. But, just like she'd done with gymnastics, Emily used every single mean look as more motivation to keep writing harder. By the time she'd finished she'd written more than any other student in the room. When she finished and walked out the stares weren't of distain but of admiration. Emily smiled, her gymnastics career might be over but her life wasn't, not by a long shot. She walked back to Margi's feeling better than she had in a long time.

"I'm home!" She called down the hallway, she heard the TV on in the lounge and went to see what the others were watching.

"Hey Em" said Larissa – who at fourteen was the eldest of Margi's foster children. She was lying on the couch with her long legs stretched out to rest on the table in front of her. Eight year old Jenna was curled up next to her, with a book in her hand as usual. Ten year old Jacky ran over to hug her, he idolised Emily.

"What are you guys watching?" Emily asked as she picked Jacky up.

"The world championships" Jenna said in an important voice.

Emily cringed, she'd been so busy with her SATs that she'd completely lost track of the date. Before Emily could reply Margi came in. "M- how did the SATs go?" She asked as she gave her a hug. Then she saw what was on the TV.

"Larissa, turn that off would you?" she asked, unusually tense.

Emily smiled "no, honestly it's fine – I want to watch it. And the SATs went much better than I expected thanks."

"Ok if you're sure."

Emily took a seat on the couch with the two younger girls. It was the day of the finals for the team competition. The presenters showed replays of the qualifying rounds. Emily cringed as she watched Lauren's overly serious beam routine.

"Sasha shouldn't have told her to do that." Emily muttered.

"Huh?" Larissa asked,

"Oh that girl is usually really creative on the beam but she was trying to be serious and so she didn't do very well."

"How do you know that? Did you train with her – wow I knew you were good but I didn't know you would have gone to worlds?" Larissa left silent the implication 'if you hadn't become pregnant' but she didn't need to.

"Uh yeah but I'm happy here, I get to eat more carbs this way." Emily forced a smile.

"Well that's what life's all about right?" Larissa joked. Emily laughed; she really enjoyed the younger girl's company. She'd gone from foster home to foster home and had a scar on her left cheek from when her father had thrown a bottle at her but she never let life get her down.

The commentator switched from Lauren's routine to Kaylie on the vault "after a disappointing performance by Lauren Tanner team USA needed the National Champion to prove why the USA was a threat but it wasn't to be."

Emily rolled her eyes "I would like to see them try that vault!"

The TV then switched to Kaylie's announcement that she was anorexic. Emily's eyes were fixed to the screen.

"That girl's brave"

"Yeah, she is. They all are."

Finally they showed Payson's tense floor routine. "Something's wrong." She said to no one in particular. But before anyone could reply the recap quickly showed Kelly Parker's bar routine and moved on to the live coverage of the final. Emily and the others watched as the girls came out, completely transformed – she clapped enthusiastically as Lauren kicked arse, quite literally, on the beam, as Kelly nailed the bars for the second time and as Payson did a Kerri Strugg on the vault. By the time Kaylie had finished her floor routine Emily realised that the girls were in with a chance of gold. Something they'd only dared dream of.

And then they did it – they won the gold. Jacky and Larissa cheered loudly when the score were announced and even Jenna smiled and clapped. Emily didn't know what to feel. She was ecstatic for her teammates of course but there was also a big sinking in her stomach, the realisation that her dream was finally over, as if she didn't have enough proof. She excused herself, claiming fatigue and went up to her room. She picked up the framed photo on her bedside table, she Lauren and Kaylie were hugging Payson after she'd completed her simple bars routine – the first time she'd been on them since her accident. With a sigh she put the photo in her drawer. That season of her life was over now.

XXX

Darby had always loved LA, its busyness and especially the sun. She'd decided that since she was going to have a tough time convincing Emily to come back she'd booked out a fancy hotel – one with a gym. If Emily was anything like her she would be missing exercise and Darby knew exactly what sort of invigorating exercise she could do without harming her baby. She thought about dressing in a tracksuit but thought that would be too obvious. She decided on jeans and a jersey. Darby was incredibly nervous during the drive over to Margi's place. She had no idea how Emily would react. She knew Emily had not respected her at all as a coach and that she'd probably not want anything to do with gymnastics anymore, but heck, she had to try!

She whistled as she saw the impressively sized house, she didn't realise Chloe had friends who were so well off. She walked up the long driveway and knocked on the door. A teenage girl answered.

"Hey – is Emily Kmetko here?"

The girl looked suspiciously at Darby "you're not from the NGO are you?"

Darby was glad she hadn't worn the trackpants, she laughed a bit bitterly. "Haha no, I can assure you I'm not. I'm far from the NGO's favourite person at the moment.

The girl broke into a smile "that's what we like to hear, come on in. I'm sure Emily would be glad to see you."

Emily wasn't sure who to expect when Larissa told her that she had a visitor but it certainly wasn't Darby. Emily forced herself to smile – her former coach had always tried her patience "Hi, how are you?"

Darby stood up, thought about hugging Emily but then thought the better of it "I'm good Em, how are you?"

"Oh you know."

"How does it feel to be out of gymnastics?"

"Actually I think I've made my peace with it. It took a while but now I'm looking forward to finishing high school and then uni"

"Oh nice" darn, Darby thought – this was going to be harder than she'd anticipated.

Emily suddenly realised that Darby might be doing some sort of interview on her that she would print in a gossip magazine. "I don't want to be rude – but is there any particular reason you're here. It's just a little weird is all, and you're not going to publish what I'm telling you or anything am I?"

Darby suddenly realised how dodgy this all looked "oh Emily, no. This is much more personal."

"Personal how?"

"Well when I was a bit younger than you I had just won the junior all around title: I was fifteen, and stupid. My brother was rebelling against my parents at that time and he took me out to a bar to celebrate. He bought be a drink. I don't know how the bar tender thought I was overage, anyway I'd never tasted alcohol before and I got drunk very quickly. Then my brother went to the bathroom and this guy came up to me. He was so nice and I was so flattered and then he asked me to come back to a hotel with him. One thing led to another and we slept together. Two months later I was found to be pregnant. I was devastated – we were only sixteen months away from the Olympics."

Emily had been listening to this and could hardly believe what she was hearing. "You were the girl who got the abortion? The NGO said there was someone. Well it's a bit late for me in that respect I'm afraid."

Darby met the younger woman's eyes "I didn't have an abortion. I kept the baby and put her up for adoption."

"NO!" Emily yelled "don't tell me this now. I've given up on my stupid dream that's been killing me and I'm on a different track now. I'm happy and I'm going to be just as successful. Don't you dare try to change my mind! I've given up so much for gymnastics, don't you dare try to make me hope again." Emily stormed up to her room.

Darby sighed. That had pretty much been her reaction too when someone had told her that it was actually possible "Emily wait" Darby said softly.

Emily turned around "why?"

"Here are my contact details if you change your mind. And if not, I believe in you, you can be anything you want to be, if that means anything to you."

"It does Darby. But I think it's best you leave."

Darby nodded and left the piece of paper with her details on the table before walking out.

Emily ran upstairs and put on Damon's songs at full volume – she just wanted to forget the visit.

XXX

The Rock girls were still ecstatic from their team win. Lauren had suggested a sleepover in Lauren and Kaylie's room. Although they were meant to be in bed at 10 it was 2am. They were too hyper, and Kelly had snuck in copious amounts of junk food that was strictly forbidden.

"Oh my God did you guys see the gorgeous guy from the Romanian team?" Lauren asked.

"Oh yes! He was so yummy" Kelly added.

"Yummy?" Seriously, who says that?" Lauren said snidely – she was still insecure about having Kelly on the team, especially since she seemed to get on well with both Kaylie and Payson.

"Well he is." Kaylie said "don't you think Payson?"

Payson yawned, she really hadn't thought this sleepover was a good idea but she couldn't help being excited and her ankle had pretty much ruled her out of the all around and the event finals. "Sure guys, but he can't even do a decent rings routine."

Lauren and Kaylie both burst out laughing, very loudly. "That's our Payson!"

Suddenly the door burst open. The girls turned around to see Sasha standing there, topless and livid. "And what the _hell_ do you think you're doing?"

Kaylie took a deep breath "Sasha we can explain."

Sasha saw the lollies on the floor "oh great. Do the four of you have any idea how disappointed I am in you at the moment? You've let victory go to your heads before the competition was even over. I can't even look at you – get your arses to bed and you had better be ready to bring your A-game tomorrow otherwise I'll pull you all for the alternates."

"But Sasha" Lauren interjected.

"Now, Lauren – I would have thought you'd want to try especially hard since you only qualified for the all around because Payson hurt her ankle and Kaylie only competed on vault and floor."

Lauren looked as if she'd been slapped turned on her heel and promptly got into bed.

XXX

Larissa had heard the whole confrontation between Emily and Darby but she was so fascinated with gymnastics that she really wanted to watch the rest of the world championships. "Emily"

"Yeah"

"Do you mind if I put the worlds on?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Emily asked defensively.

"It's just that well..."

"You heard me and Darby yesterday?"

"Yeah"

"It's ok Larissa, honestly. In fact I kind of want to watch it too." She put an arm around the younger girl's shoulder and they walked down to the lounge.

Emily turned the TV on and saw her old teammates walk out. "Something's wrong." She muttered.

"How do you know?"

"Sasha – the head coach, he's angry at them – see how he's not even smiling at them, and Kaylie- she's the brunette, looks like she's scared of him, and Lauren – the blonde one is mad, she won't even look at him. That's not good, Lauren always lets herself get distracted. It's a shame because she's probably the most powerful gymnast in the country since Payson hurt her back."

"Wow you know them really well."

"I guess I did."

"I bet they miss you. I would."

"I doubt it – anyway let's watch. Kelly qualified for the all around straight out and Lauren got in because Payson hurt her ankle and couldn't do floor, but if she had her scores would almost certainly have knocked Lauren out. Only two girls per country can make the finals you see."

Emily watched in despair as Gengi Cho did a flawless vault and Evanka, although less powerful did a gorgeous routine following her. Kelly and Lauren both did fairly well: neither of them were particularly strong on vault and just wanted clean routines.

The next apparatus was the bars. "Watch Kelly here, she's amazing on bars." But then Emily saw Lauren walk over to Kelly and say something. It was obviously offensive because Kelly looked hurt. Sasha marched over and said something to Lauren, he looked very angry. Lauren just rolled her eyes and walked back over to the rest of the coaches. Sasha put a hand on Kelly's shoulder and mouthed 'good luck' to her. Kelly forced a smile and saluted the judges. She started well but in the middle of her routine she almost slipped on the lower bar and so she finished her routine and landed when she was only about half way through her routine.

"She's out." Emily muttered.

"But why?"

"Difficulty level wasn't high enough. Man I'm going to punch Lauren. She needs to learn that psyching out your teammates just distracts you. And now she's the USA's only real hope of a medal."

"Wow I had no idea how much the other girls impacted each other."

"Oh you have no idea, gymnastics is definitely a team sport and the problem with both Lauren and Kelly is that they are both so insecure that they tend to bring everyone down if they feel like they don't belong."

They drifted into silence again as Lauren completed a solid bars routine. Again, not her strongest apparatus. Lauren was best on beam and floor where she could put her power moves to good use. She was in fifth place and Kelly in seventh. The commentators clearly were not pleased but Emily knew that Lauren could definitely medal and still maybe have a shot at gold if she performed her beam routine as well as she did in the team final.

"Wow that readhead is amazing!" Larissa said as Evanka did her routine.

"She is – she's super artistic, very Nastia Luikin."

"Who?"

"Never mind" Emily smiled to herself. It was funny how former Olympic gymnasts were all well known and had their routines analysed incessantly by her gym friends but then outside of the gymnastics world they weren't that well known at all.

"Wow" Larissa said as the Russian girl finished her routine.

"Yeah, she's added an extra half a twist on that dismount! She kept that quiet."

The camera zoomed in on Lauren, she looked super nervous.

"She's going to make a mistake."

"How can you tell?"

"Before every routine she aces she has this 'focus' face on that certainly isn't there at the moment. See how she's looking all over the place? At Kelly, Gengi and Evanka, usually she'd just be concentrating on the beam."

Payson walked over to her teammate, and looked like she was giving her some serious pep talk. Lauren nodded and smiled.

"I hope that worked, Payson's got to be the best motivator I've met." Emily said, but then the TV showed Lauren looking to the stands, she saw it zoom in on Austin and she saw that Max was sitting next to him. Lauren's 'focus' face disappeared as she saluted the judges. Her jump up to the beam was sloppy and two of her tumbles almost saw her fall off the beam.

"Come on Lauren" Emily urged her old teammate. After an awkward routine Lauren finally came up to her dismount. At first it looked like she was going to make it but she didn't stick the landing and she fell. She got up and saluted the judges without smiling and then she swore very audibly and kicked a mat.

"That didn't go well."

"Not at all." They kept watching, Gengi and Evanka both performing amazing floor routines. Kelly stepped out of the line and Lauren completed the most perfunctory routine Emily had ever seen her do without even the slightest hint of smile. In the end Gengi Cho took the all around gold and Evanka took the silver. A girl from Romania took the bronze and Kelly and Lauren finished seventh and eighth respectively. Sasha, Kaylie and Payson all looked completely shocked, Lauren looked like she was about to cry and Kelly didn't even acknowledge Lauren when the team gathered together.

XXX

Darby had just turned the TV off after watching the all around finals. She couldn't remember cringing so much in a single afternoon. The girls hadn't been so terrible since they'd lost to Pinewood and at least that hadn't happened on worldwide television. It was also a shame that Lauren and Kelly had been the two to qualify for the final; any other members of the team wouldn't have tried to psych each other out. There was a knock at her hotel door, she opened it.

"Emily?" She said happily.

"Did you see what just happened?"

"Unfortunately. I wonder what went wrong?"

"Darby can I ask you something?"

"Of course"

"Do you believe I can return to gymnastics?"

"Oh Emily, I completely believe it. You are one of most determined people I've ever met."

"Good, because I think I can too. In fact I know I can!"

Darby hugged her "I'm so proud of you!"

"You'll coach me?"  
>"Every day and every night – as hard as we can and for as long as it takes, you, girl, are going to the Olympics."<p>

Emily grinned "I haven't felt this good in a long time!"

"Can I ask what changed your mind?"

Emily thought about her answer "I guess watching the Worlds made me realise how much I missed gymnastics but even more than that I realised that the girls need me. There was something missing today when I was watching and I realised it was me."

Darby gave her newest gymnast another hug. "Well go and get an early night because tomorrow we are starting you on an eating and exercise plan. Baby friendly of course."

**A/N So Emily Kmetko is back! Sorry I don't know anything about gymnastics so I thought it was better to just not describe the routines and try to avoid sounding like an idiot. Next chapter we have the event finals at Worlds. Hope you liked the chapter and please let me know what you thought!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Sueno **

Payson, Kaylie, Lauren and Kelly sat in the living area that joined their two rooms. Kelly and Lauren had just showered and warmed down and Sasha had told the four of them to meet him in the living area in an hour. They were all incredibly nervous.

"He's going to kill me." Kelly muttered "can it get more embarrassing than the reigning world champion not even medalling?" She muttered, curled up on one of the couches

"It wasn't your fault" Kaylie said, giving Lauren the evils. "It's not exactly like you had your teammate there to support you."

"Fine, pick on me Kaylie. It's not like Kelly was exactly supportive when we were younger, but sure side with the cow how treated us like crap over your best friend!"

"Screw you Lauren, we psyched each other out when we were at nationals competing for different clubs, not when we were on the same team! And I never, ever would talk to another girl right before she was about to do a routine."

"What did she say?" Kaylie asked Kelly.

"It doesn't matter."

"I told her she wasn't welcome here and that she's an interfering bitch."

"Lauren!" Kaylie said, outraged. She couldn't believe how hypocritical Lauren was being, calling Kelly a bitch when Lauren had slept with Carter and done numerous other things.

"Well it's true." Lauren said obstinately "It's just that neither of you have the guts to say it." She said looking at Kaylie who looked like she was on the verge of tears and at Payson who was watching silently.

Payson stood up – her face was expressionless which Kaylie and Lauren both knew meant she was mad. "Ok that. Is enough. You are behaving like little kids. We are a team and Lauren you _have _to learn that we are on your side and trying to psych us out won't actually make your scores any higher. Kelly don't let yourself get down just use tomorrow to rock, Kales and I will be supporting you 100%."

"Definitely" Kaylie added – relieved Payson could keep a cool head even after such a disastrous performance.

Lauren pouted "and me? Or have you just conveniently forgotten that I exist."

Payson and Kaylie rolled their eyes "cut the pity party Lauren – you know we've got your back too."

"I so wish Emily was here right now." Payson muttered quietly to Kaylie.

"I know at least she kept her cool."

Lauren looked like she was about to chime in with words of wisdom about what she thought of Emily when the door swung open and Sasha strode in. He stood in front of them with his arms crossed.

"I suggest you start talking." He spoke in a menacing whisper.

Lauren stood up "Sasha I realise that I have let every person down in this room numerous times and that you have all forgiven me numerous times but I still act like an idiot. I want that to change, I really do. I take full responsibility for my poor performance last night organising the sleepover, today with my routines and I also acknowledge and apologise for my inappropriate involvement with Kelly."

Kelly stood up "Thanks Lauren but I want to apologise for my abysmal form today. I let things get to my head which I shouldn't have done. I also played a role in the sleepover and I have treated you all badly in the past."

Sasha whistled. "That was pretty much the lecture I was going to give each of you and you said it yourselves. Where did this come from, Kaylie? Did you put some captain talk into them?" He asked, surprised. He thought Kaylie was a good person but she wasn't really strong enough to keep personalities like Kelly's and Lauren's in line.

Kaylie looked down and shook her head. "It was Payson" Lauren said. "She sort of uh told it to us straight."

Sasha nodded. "Good job Payson." Payson blushed and looked down.

Sasha noticed this and moved on quickly. "Well since managed to work things out for yourselves I will spare you the lecture."

Lauren laughed and said "oh you're the best Sasha" in a high pitched voice. Kelly and Payson rolled their eyes at each other.

"But don't think for a second you will be missing out on the probation, extra conditioning and cleaning that is waiting for the four of you when we get back to training for last night's little soiree."

The girls apart from Payson all groaned. Sasha smiled, saving best till last "Kelly and Lauren you also have a press conference with the other all around finalists. You'd better come with me – try not to kill each other on the way there, I'm sure the press will do a fine job of that."

XXX

Emily had been completely shocked when she'd found out she was pregnant. She had definitely considered an abortion and if it wasn't for the fact that Chloe was a teen mother and that the NGO kept trying to control her, she probably would have gone through with it. But in the past few months she'd grown almost exciting about having a child. And now Darby was giving her yet another painful choice.

"So you don't think I'll be able to keep the baby, I'll have to put him or her up for adoption?"Emily, being an old fashioned gal wanted to be surprised.

Darby sighed. This was going to be the hardest choice Emily would have to ever make: motherhood or her dream. She didn't want to be harsh on Emily but she could be naive sometimes.

"Emily I think the only way you could make it to the Olympics is if you had someone to help you raise the child."

Emily smiled "Like Damon or Mum?"

Darby shook her head "like a nanny. I don't think Damon or Chloe would be able to give up their jobs to look after the baby full time."

Emily was silent for a while "I can't afford a nanny. Heck I can't even afford a proper leotard. Adoption looks like the only way."

Darby came over and put her arm around Emily.

"How hard is it?"

"Hard. But I don't regret it. My baby has a better life and so do I."

"You're right." Emily took a deep breath "adoption it is."

"Talk to your Mum, talk to Damon, for now let's just get you back into the swing of things – now are you ready for the cross trainer?"

Emily grinned "I know I'll probably regret saying this but bring it, Darby."

XXX

Lauren hated the event finals. They stressed her more than anything because they were the one event where everyone expected her to get a gold medal on beam and she hated the pressure. She looked at her teammates: Payson and Kelly showed no emotion whatsoever – they were used to having targets on their backs and they could shut out everyone else and just focus on their routines. Kaylie was the opposite: she thrived on people supporting her and she very much played to the crowd. Lauren bit her lip nervously as Sasha took the four of them on a group huddle: the other two girls on their team had not qualified.

"I want you all to forget last night. Forget the all around. Forget the crowd and the commentators and the judges. Today it is just you and the apparatus – the only thing holding you back is yourself." He put his fist in and the others joined him in a 'Rock on'

XXX

Emily felt like she was dying, but in a good way "ok I never thought I'd see the day where I'd struggle to complete an hour and a half on a cross trainer" Emily puffed.

"Thinking of giving up?" Darby teased.

"Keep dreaming." Emily quipped back, making Darby smile: this girl had changed – she was so much more determined than she used to be, which was good because if Emily ever wanted to come back she was going to have to give it twice the effort everyone else did.

"Are you being cute with me? Stop that and give me 50 push ups."

"Yes ma'am" Emily said cheekily as she forced herself down – life was so much harder when you were carrying around another person inside you.

After the workout and a shower Emily came down to Darby's hotel room to watch the event finals. "I really hopped they've stepped up their game." Darby said, although the Rock girls probably didn't give Darby a second thought, she thought about her former gymnasts constantly: she regretted not being tougher on them. She looked at Emily's six months pregnant stomach and cringed, she knew she held at least some of the blame for that.

"They will have: Sasha will have knocked some sense into them: trust me."

The vault finals came first with Kaylie and Kelly both qualifying. Emily didn't expect much to happen – Kelly wasn't spectacular on the vault and Kaylie, while good didn't have the power that Genghi Cho did or the flair of Evanka. But then Evanka fell on her first vault and lowered her difficulty on the second, and then Kaylie and Kelly both did spectacular routines. Darby whistled after Kaylie did her second vault.

"I know – when she wants to, Kaylie can blow your mind with how complex her routines get." Emily added. Genghi Cho was the last girl to compete on vault, and from the second Emily saw her start running she knew that her routine was going to be flawless: it was. But Emily knew her teammates would be pleased – Kelly had won the silver and Kaylie the bronze. They both had a lot to prove since the start of the competition – Kelly with her spectacular failure in the all around and Kaylie with her anorexia.

But it was the uneven bars that Emily wanted to see. Payson had qualified and she was going to compete despite the fact her ankle would probably turn out to be a stress fracture. Emily smiled as she imagined the argument she would have had with Sasha: the poor man wouldn't have had a chance; there was no way Payson would have given up a shot of an individual medal at Worlds because of an injury.

"I wonder how much arguing it would have taken to get Payson to agree only to compete on bars?" Darby mused.

"I'd say a lot – plus a couple of threats from Kim if she didn't listen to Sasha." Emily said, feeling a pang of nostalgia as she thought of her former best friend. Emily watched as the other girls did their routines: Gengi and Evanka both amazing in their own style – the girls from Romania and Australia performing great routines. It was a very tough group to break – Gengi Cho had guaranteed herself a medal by leading the scoreboard with just Kelly and Payson left. Kelly did the same routine she'd done in the team competition: she smiled as Kaylie, Payson and even Lauren cheered her on: she stuck her landing and to her immense surprise when her score came it was higher than Gengi's. Finally Payson walked up and saluted the judges: the cheer she received from the whole auditorium was huge. Payson had been popular before her injury not just because she was a good gymnast but because she was a good person too. She didn't try to bring her opponents down. Emily and Darby held their breaths as the blonde girl mounted the lower bar and gracefully swung herself round. Each time she moved she did so as if she was a ballerina, calmly and serenely. Finally she did a very complicated landing and stuck it. She saluted the judges and the crowd who had been stunned silent started screaming. Payson had tears in her eyes.

"Ladies and gentlemen twelve months ago this young lady was told she would never do gymnastics again. She stands before you at the World Championships with a routine on the same apparatus that almost destroyed her career and she is better than ever."

Sasha ran to hug Payson, closely followed by the Rock girls and her parents. And to her immense surprise the girls from the Russian team, led by Evanka, and the Chinese team led Gengi ran over too. They seemed unsure of what to do until Payson waved them over. Evanka and Gengi both enveloped Payson. The three girls looked up at the scoreboard

Uneven Bars: Final Standings

1st USA Payson Keeler

2nd USA Kelly Parker

3rd China Gengi Cho

The camera zoomed in on Payson, Gengi and Evanka: arms around each other, beaming at the scoreboard. "That image is going to be all over every magazine in the country tomorrow." Emily said happily. As Payson – supported by Sasha, limped over to the podium.

"The next big comeback story will be yours, Em." Darby said encouragingly, Emily smiled at her. She hadn't always found it easy working with Sasha, he was sometimes overly harsh and while the other girls could deal with it more easily because they'd been in intense training. Emily found Darby's enthusiastic encouragement much more motivating. It wasn't that Sasha was a bad coach; it was just that he didn't understand Emily well.

XXX

Damon Young had had a whirlwind of a month. Being rushed to the other side of the country and recording non stop. But unlike last time he was focused, he knew this was his shot and he couldn't blow it he had a girlfriend and a new baby coming. Whenever he got tired he just thought of the two of them and he found motivation to keep brainstorming, to practice a rift once again until it was perfect. He hoped his hard work had paid off. The album was finally recorded and it had been released two days ago. Damon was keeping low, he was too nervous to see how it had done on the charts so he'd been basically holed up in his room reading until his agent had called him yesterday. He'd been bemused and annoyed that Damon hadn't contacted him and now he was being forced to meet with his agent at some swanky hotel – which unfortunately meant wearing a suit.

Damon pulled at his tie: trying to loosen it without making himself seem like a scruffy kid who didn't know how to dress. Which he thought dryly, was exactly what he was. Trying to seem erudite he pulled out the newspaper he'd picked up from a stall a block away. On the front page was a picture of the remaining rock rebels and a girl he'd heard of called Kelly Parker. With a jolt he realised that they were in Rio and that the World Championships had just finished. He smiled as he read about Payson's gold medal and laughed to himself when he read how Lauren had come so close to gold on beam when she'd tried to be a bit too sexy and lost her balance slightly on her landing: she'd still won the silver though. And Kaylie and Kelly had come 2nd and 3rd respectively on floor.

"Damon?"

Damon sat up with a start "Michael, how are you?" he was slightly intimidated by his agent: he knew Michael thought he was a bit of a liability with his constant writer's block.

"I'm well thank you, shall we go through to the restaurant?" Without waiting for a reply he headed off towards the fancy dining area. Damon hurriedly shoved the newspaper into his bag and half jogged to catch up with Michael. He cringed at how very un rock and roll he must look right now.

They found a table in the corner so they could have some privacy. Without waiting to order Michael said "I think you're going to be very happy young man."

Damon tried not to role his eyes at the patronising. "Really, how so?"

"Your second track on your album has shot to number 1 in the states and reached number 3 in the UK. This is huge, son – for anybody but for a newcomer it's just mindblowing. Your album looks set to hit platinum: I'd say that it's a safe bet you're about to become quite famous. And you've earned yourself a nice little nest egg. From the sales from the single along you've got $1m and I'd say album sales and the likelihood of more singles doing as well that could triple easily."

Damon's jaw dropped "a million dollars?"

"I knew you'd be pleased. Is there anything particular you had in mind you wanted to do with it?"

"There is actually" Damon muttered quietly. "Do you think you could get me a real estate agent?" He was going to buy him and Emily a house where they could finally live together like a normal family. And he could set up a trust fund for their baby. Damon grinned: now that the financial pressure was off him, he could actually look forward to being a father.

XXX

Payson was knackered. She was the first to admit to anyone that she was a total nana – if she didn't get her eight hours sleep she turned into a zombie. The second she'd touched back down in the states she'd had interviews both from the press and from potential sponsors: as well as a stupid mini party in her honour thrown by the guys at the Healthy Nut company. The other three had also been quite busy but Payson had had the most attention: something which she could tell the others, especially Lauren resented. This interview was the last. It wasn't as bad as the others because she got to share the spotlight with Austin who had won the all around title (again) as well as picking up three event titles (again). She tried not to laugh as he sucked up to the cameras, pretending that he didn't do any work: although everyone at the Rock knew better. After the reporter finally finished her perfunctory and banal questions they were free to go.

"Tired Keeler?" Austin asked as Payson yawned loudly.

"Shush you – I can't handle sleep deprivation, as you well know."

"Believe me I do – I'm still recovering from the sugarless cookie incident in May. Seriously who puts in salt instead of sugar?"

"I'm going to ignore you Mr Cobalt." Payson said striding away from her friend at top speed.

"Just you try." Austin said, then he realised he still had Payson's purse. He never understood why girls treated guys as things upon which to hang their possessions. "Hey wait, I've got your phone and stuff."

"Oh thanks" Payson said as she took the purse, instinctively she pulled her phone out. She hadn't checked it since they'd landed almost 48 hours ago. "Wow" she said as she saw she had four missed calls.

Austin leaned over "aw it looks like Max couldn't handle being away from you, what a cutie."

"I don't know what Kaylie sees in you, I really don't, you haven't been poisoning her have you?"

"Only with my charm."

"Eugh you are so cheesey." Payson retorted. Then she opened her text messages

_Please call me as soon as you get this_

_I have to talk to you about something_

_-Max_

Austin, being the nosey person he was – leant over Payson's shoulder to read. He figured it wouldn't be anything interesting anyway – Payson was the least dramatic of her friends.

"Do you know what this is about?" Payson asked.

Austin was silent for a while, he knew Max and Payson had become 'official' after the team finals but it looked like Max hadn't bothered to tell Payson he was bi. Finally he said "you've got to call him Payson, or even better go see him in person."

Payson looked worriedly at Austin. If even Austin was being serious it must be something big.

**A/N I'm really not that pleased with this chapter but I don't think it's going to get any better. I was going to make Emily drop the bomb on Damon that she was returning to gymnastics in this chapter but I didn't have room, so you will just have to see how he reacts next time tehe. **

**Anyway I hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you think! Also if you have any opinions about who should be with who please let me know, I'm always open to suggestions. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: for you Jess, RIP**

"So that's it you're not going to tell me anything? But you know something, don't you." Payson said perceptively.

"Just talk to him Pay, it's not my place to say." Austin said awkwardly. He really, really hoped that Max didn't mention that they'd kissed. Payson was one of his good friends and he wasn't sure what the protocol was in these sorts of situations.

Payson shrugged. Austin wasn't being unreasonable: she'd do the same for her friends. She just tried to smile authentically "sure. See you at the Rock then." Payson wasn't usually nervous, she could do a triple twist in front of thousands, wearing a leotard with crowds screaming at her and the weight of her country on her shoulders but with boys she felt totally out of her depth. Until recently she'd only viewed them as a distraction, but now, now they seemed a whole lot more important. She sighed and drove to Max's apartment.

It was a typical bachelor pad, small and kind of messy with the ubiquitous wide screen TV connected to a PlayStation. It wasn't much but Payson liked it. There was a wall cabinet in the hallway with lots of photos Max had taken – some of his family, a few of the crowd from the Rock and a whole lot of Payson. She rolled her eyes at the newest one: a photo of her midway through her bars routine at worlds. Payson realised she was standing in Max's place without even having announced herself.

"Max?" She called.

Max emerged looking unusually serious. "Payson, come in. Do you uh, want a cup of tea or anything?"

Payson gave him a weird look "Um sure, and what's with all the formality?"

Max sighed "you should probably sit." Payson sat.

"How's your ankle?"

"Uh fine, thanks. How's your collarbone?" Payson asked with a hint of sarcasm. She didn't like people who beat about the bush.

"Okay this is weird."

"It is a bit. Look Max just tell me what it is you have to say."

"I'm bi." He uttered succinctly.

Payson was shocked. She wasn't expecting that at all.

"Say something" Max said pleadingly.

"I get the impression you're not telling me everything." Payson said slowly and calmly. There was no way Austin would have been so weirded out if all Max had to tell her was that he was bisexual.

"You mean you don't care that I'm bi?" Max asked incredulously.

"Of course I don't. But you're trying to change the subject. Why was Austin so freaked out when I told him you wanted to talk to me?"

Max sighed "Ok but please don't read anything into this. I kissed Austin before the car accident. I didn't mean anything by it, I don't have feelings for him. I just needed to get my point across."

Payson felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. It was weird how you could get two gold medals with a broken ankle, be a media darling and have the perfect man one second and then the next second have your whole life turn out to be some gigantic joke. She forced herself to suck it up, as they had been told so many times in gymnastics. Payson forced herself to smile – but she knew it probably looked more like a grimace.

"I-I-need some time Max." She said as she stood up and briskly walked towards the door. "Don't get up, I'll see myself out."

"Payson wait. I love _you_ not Austin, not Lauren." Max called out after her but Payson was already in her car.

Payson shoved her key at the ignition, she was so tense that she missed she tried again and started the car. She drove around the block and pulled over. She checked to see if Max had followed her: he hadn't. Finally she let herself cry.

Eventually Payson dried her eyes. She headed back home – luckily everyone was out. Normally Payson would hit go to the gym to clear her head but her ankle already had a stress fracture, she didn't want to screw herself up any further. But she needed to clear her head somehow. She picked up her phone and called Kaylie. Ronnie answered – Kaylie was doing interviews. Payson gave a perfunctory response and hung up. Who could she talk to now? There was no way in hell she'd go to Lauren over this and she wasn't too sure how she felt about Austin over this. There was only one person who she could talk to without being judged or laughed at. Payson dialled.

"Hello" Emily said.

Payson was quiet for a second. She'd been harsh on Emily the last time they'd properly spoken face to face. Payson had automatically fallen back into the role of a captain talking to a lazy gymnast, rather than as a friend to another friend who needed support.

"Is anyone there?" Emily asked

"Em?"

"Payson?" Emily said happily: she'd long forgiven Payson for the way she'd acted towards her. Payson was tough and she wanted Emily to do well and she couldn't blame her friend for that.

"I'm really really sorry for the way I treated you. I don't want to bother you or waste your time but I need to talk to you."

"It's forgotten. I probably would have slapped you if the situations were reversed."

Payson snorted "like you'd be able to, I'd fully dodge you." She smiled at how easily they were able to slip back into their friendly banter.

"Keep dreaming. Anyway what was on your mind?"

Payson told Emily about Max, and Austin, and Lauren, and Kelly, and Kaylie.

"Oh Payson, I'm so sorry I couldn't be there with you through all that drama. And with Max – give yourself some time, think how you really feel about him before you decide what to do. And if he isn't willing to wait, well there's your answer." Emily said calmly.

Payson felt so much better after her friend's advice. She often forgot that, unlike most elite gymnasts, Emily had had experience out in the 'real world' and had been through far worse things than the other Rock girls.

"Emily, Darby's here to see you." Margi called – Payson heard her over the phone.

"Can you tell her I'm talking with my friend I might be a while but I'll come as soon as I can."

Payson was thoroughly confused. Darby was a pretty rare name "hey, who did your godmother just say was here?"

Emily was silent for a while. "You're going to think I'm crazy. But Darby came to see me about six weeks ago and well to cut a long story short I'm going to try to come back into gymnastics."

Payson whistled "with a baby? With all those changes to your body?"

"I'm putting the baby up for adoption. It will be hard but I'm not quite ready to give up on my dream yet."

"Wow that's amazing. I know it sounds corny but I'm proud of you. Just one question, why the hell is Darby coaching you? You should just come back to the Rock."

Emily laughed bitterly. "Darby knows what I'm going through and besides I'm pretty much the laughing stock at the Rock and I'm going to need one on one coaching. It's going to be a mare getting my body back into shape."

"Hey if Larisa Latynia can do it so can you."

"Thanks Pay oh and can you keep this a secret? I haven't even properly cleared this with Mum yet."

"Done. Now go work that booty of yours back into shape."

"Haha thanks, I've still got to squeeze this baby out first though" Emily said looking at her stomach rather sadly. She was pretty mixed up still about this adoption thing but even just talking to Payson made Emily miss gymnastics. And to be quite frank she and Damon were way to broke to raise a kid at the moment. She hoped he was doing alright. He'd been quite taciturn over the phone – but that was Damon for you. She couldn't wait for him to come back, and she missed him like crazy.

XXX

Damon had been looking at houses in the LA neighbourhood where Margi lived for ages but he still couldn't find the perfect place. He didn't want something too flashy but he wanted it to be nice, and child friendly of course. Finally the disgruntled real estate agent who was clearly put out by the fact a 20 year old was dithering over houses he would never be able to afford pulled up to a four bedroom home. "This is the last one we're going to be able to fit in today Mr Young." The estate agent placed ironic emphasis on 'Mr' as he glanced at Damon's ripped jeans, leather jacket and chucks.

Damon drew in his breath. Before they even entered the house he'd decided it was perfect. There was a fairly long driveway lined with poplars leading up to a white picket fence. Inside was spacious and open plan. Wall length windows – two balconies, French doors leading out to the patio. Damon grinned. There was even a perfect basement type space for him to practice as loud as he liked without irritating Emily. Although he knew Emily never got annoyed at his music, ever. There was a room that Emily could have as an office to do her school and uni work, a massive master bedroom and suite and an adjoining room that would make a perfect nursery.

The long suffering real estate agent approached Damon. "What do you think about this one?" He asked, wearily: it had been a long and futile day, he had wasted almost a whole tank of petrol and it didn't look like he'd be getting a commission for his efforts.

"I like it Mr Smith, I like it a lot." He said, clapping his hand on the older man's shoulder. "Start drawing up the contract for me will you. We can meet again tomorrow morning. And don't worry about dropping me home, I'll take the bus.

Damon grinned at the shocked expression on the real estate agent's face. He was so, so glad he didn't have a boring job like he did.

XXX

The Rock gymnasts may have helped their country get both team golds, an all around gold and four event golds and it may have been the day after the parade where they were all given keys to the town (during which both Kelly and Lauren smugly noticed Kaylie did not get nearly as much attention as she did in the last parade). But that did not stop Sasha Belov from training his gymnasts as hard as ever. Well harder actually.

"Daddy can't you tell Sasha to stop with all his stupid extra conditioning?" Lauren whinged as she got up for the 5am extra training the girls on the worlds team were getting as punishment for their theatrics during the competition.

Steve yawned "Lauren you brought this upon yourself. You have to learn to be responsible. If you'd actually acted your age you could have been the all around winner _and_ the beam winner but you got neither. And because of you I'm up early so stop whining."

"But Daddy those other girls forced me to participate in the sleepover. I was just trying to be a team player. I just find it hard to fit in sometimes and I didn't want to let the other girls down."

Steve's face mellowed. "I'll think about it."

Summer watched the conversation from the dining room table and sighed. Lauren seemed like she would never grow up. And as much as Summer knew Lauren loved her she also knew she never listened to her or respected her. So far the issue of the wedding and adoption had been swept under the carpet after the incidents at the pre-worlds party and that was exactly what summer wanted. She'd only swung by because she'd promised Lauren she'd take her to the gym since she had to be there anyway. But the more she was around the Tanners the more they irritated her, she couldn't believe she'd even considered adopting Lauren.

"Lauren it's time to go" she said firmly before Steve gave in completely.

Lauren scowled and followed Summer to the car.

XXX

Emily stared at the phone. She really didn't want to call Chloe. She was nervous that she wouldn't take well to the news that she wouldn't ever know her eldest grandchild.

"You know to make the phone work you have to pick it up and dial, staring at it tends not to work so well" Larissa told the older girl.

"I see your schooling is paying off."

"Just call her" Emily had confided in the younger girl, who although only fourteen acted well beyond her years.

"Fine, but if it goes badly you have to buy me chocolate."

"Uh, why?"

"Because you'll feel guilty."

"You know me too well, ok fine – but if I come back and you haven't called your Mum there will be serious consequences young lady" Larissa joked.

Emily rolled her eyes good naturedly, and thought how much Brian would like Larissa if the two ever met. Larissa gave Emily a quick hug before leaving Emily to have some privacy. She dialled her home number.

"Mum?"

"Emily?" Chloe asked, delighted. She missed her daughter like crazy, even if they were at each other's throats a lot.

"I have some big news."

"Well come on and spill it then, silly. You would not believe how quiet it is without you here."

"Okay, well a few weeks ago Darby came to see me" Emily began with the story which she had told what felt like a million times "anyway to do all that I'm going to have to put the baby up for adoption. Please don't be mad." Emily said in a small voice.

Chloe couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was as if all her Christmases had come at once. Emily without gymnastics was like the seasons with no summer. "Oh honey I am so, so proud of you. Why would you think I would be mad? Has that California sun gotten to ya?"

Emily smiled at her mother's way of speaking. She was always positive, Emily should learn from that. "I just didn't want you to think I was taking your grandchild away from you."

"Oh honey. That little baby will be loved and I'll get other grandchildren I'm sure. But the thought of you giving up on your dream, that's something I don't think I could have lived with."

Emily was almost in tears now. "I miss you Mummy." She said in an uncharacteristically needy voice. Emily had always made a point of being super independent around her mother; she didn't want to burden her. But there were times when a girl just needed her mum.

"I love you too sweetheart."

They talked for awhile longer. Emily told her about the foster kids, how far they were coming and how Margi was thinking of getting a couple more to come. Then she talked to Brian who had been accepted on scholarship to a private school and was just waiting to see if they would be able to handle his disability. Emily finished the conversation feeling much better.

Larissa came back to see how Emily was doing. Emily beamed at her "how's the homework going?"

"Meh, you know me. I'm totally thick." The younger girl said happily, without any self pity.

"None of that Larissa."

"It's true."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is but I'm okay with that. I don't really care. My teachers say I'm not going to get to college. But there are more important things to do in life." She pulled out two Hershey's cookies and cream bars "like eating chocolate for instance. This was your favourite flavour right? If not it should be. They're soo good."

Emily ignored comments about the chocolate "what's this about not going to college? I thought you said you wanted to be a nurse."

"Times change, Em. It's not a big deal. I can just be something else, like I dunno a cook or something."

"Larissa look at me" Emily said sternly "you are going to get into a good college."

"And you need to be checked into a mental asylum." The younger girl snapped back. Larissa was used to failing, and she hated people to make a fuss over her.

"Do you still want to be a nurse?" Emily asked, ignoring the jibe.

"More than anything" Larissa answered quietly.

"Then you're going to get there. I'll tutor you every day if have to."

"Ha, you're funny. How do you propose we go about this rather insane plan?"

"Step one; we get you on the honour roll."

Larissa opened her mouth to object then she realised that Emily actually believed in her and she thought better of it. "You really think I can do that?"

"I know you can, if you're willing to work for it."

Larissa, blonde hair flying behind her ran to Emily and wrapped her in a hug.

"Come on let's try and get that homework done." Emily said.

After they'd worked on it for a while Emily decided they'd earned a break so they went down to the kitchen to fix themselves an orange juice. Margi made it herself and it put anything bought from the store completely to shame.

"So what did Damon say when you told him you were going back into gymnastics?" Larissa asked.

"Well I haven't yet. I want to save it till he gets back. I'll figure he'll need a nice surprise, he always seemed really drained when he gets back from recording.

"You're cute."

"Says the one with her hair in pigtails and wearing a Minnie mouse t-shirt"

"Hey Minnie's awesome."

Emily smiled in reply but she wasn't really listening. She checked her phone

_Hey gorgeous, trip was amazing_

_I have some pretty big news _

_See you tomorrow_

Tomorrow. Emily almost choked on her juice, he was back way earlier than she'd expected. She hoped Damon would take it ok. Deciding there was nothing more she could do about it she finished her juice and rounded up Larissa and the others to go for a swim. She needed to look good for Damon tomorrow and she always felt better after a swim.

**A/N Thank you everyone for your reviews, as usual they made my week. So this was a bit of a fluff chapter and I know it didn't seem like a whole lot was going on but as you will soon see lots of drama is about to unfold, or explode might be a better word. As always please let me know what you thought**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: We live, we love, we forgive and never give up**

Emily bent down help Matthew tie up his shoelaces. The five year old was the newest edition to Margi' clan and he wasn't doing too well. His parents and sister had recently been killed in a car accident and he was staying here temporarily until his feuding extended family decided where he would go: none of them wanted to take him in. It broke Emily's heart because he was such a sweet little boy. She looked down at her ever expanding stomach and silently promised the baby inside that his or her adoptive parents would always love them. And so would she.

"There we go Matt you're ready to go" Emily said "have a great day at school."

"Thank you Emlee" the boy said and hugged Emily. Emily's hormones went crazy and she forced herself not to cry as she hugged him back. Reluctantly she went up to her room to grab her gym bag. Because Emily was only a couple of months away from her due date Darby had switched most of her training to swimming and strength training in the pool, she had no idea why it was called low impact because it hurt like hell and at least training in the gym didn't leave her smelling like chlorine. She sighed, at least she had Damon to look forward to this afternoon.

The work out was intense, three hours of lengths, aqua aerobics and underwater weights exercises. She felt almost every muscle inside her burning and screaming for her to stop. But Emily soldiered on: she just kept thinking of herself on the podium with a gold medal around her neck and her mother and brother being there to see her and be proud of her.

Darby watched her student with pride. Emily Kmetko used to be known in the gymnastics world as a diamond in the rough: raw talent but with none of the mental toughness champions were made of. No one would think that now, the girl was on her 200th tricep dip without letting her form slip one bit.

"Ok and we're done, good job Emily."

Emily beamed. "Thank you! I would fully hug you but I'm wet."

"That's what she said." Darby inadvertently mumbled.

"My coach has a sense of humour, who would have thought? A pretty lame one but still"

Darby snorted

Emily laughed at her "help me out?" she said reaching her hand out to Darby. Darby took it and Emily pulled her in. Darby squealed and splashed Emily. "I can't believe you just fell for the oldest trick in the book."

After they finally got out of the pool and changed Emily looked at her watch and swore, she was already late for meeting Damon and it would take her 20 minutes to get back to Margi's. She texted him to meet her at the pool instead.

Emily was waiting out the front, looking like a mess when Damon pulled up in his old Toyota. Emily grinned when she saw him get out, she thought about running up to him and jumping into his arms, decided it would make her look like an idiot, then decided she didn't care and ran over to him anyway.

They kissed like the world was going to end tomorrow. "I've missed you so much." Damon said breathlessly when they came up for air. "And I've missed you too, Junior" he said in a baby voice to Emily's stomach.

Emily cringed: she shouldn't have waited so long to tell him about her plans. She gently wrapped her hand around Damon's wrist and pulled his hand off her stomach. Damon looked at her quizzically.

"Damon, we need to talk about something."

Damon looked concerned "I've got news too – a lot of it. Let's grab something to eat."

Emily just nodded, she was trying to think up the best way to break the news to her boyfriend that his kid was about to be put up for adoption. Damon drove them to a quiet cafe by the sea; it was empty save for two ladies drinking coffee, a slice of chocolate cake between them. Damon ordered a Panini, a slice of brownie and a latte, Emily requested a green tea and a salad – with dressing on the side.

When they sat Damon asked "did you have a big breakfast?"

"No why?"

"It's just that I know you and I know you're not the type of girl to order a salad, it's not like you're in gymnastics anymore so you don't have coach on your back making you eat healthy."

Emily was silent.

"Em? Are you ok, what's going on?" Damon asked, full of concern.

She sighed, and put down her fork. "I guess I should tell you the news."

"That would be great, you're making me a tad nervous here."

"Ok, but please remember Damon, I only put off telling you because I didn't want to distract you from your recording. And I know this impacts on your life too but at the end of the day it's my decision and I love you and I'm not trying to hurt you and please remember that when you hear what I have to say." Emily babbled nervously.

"Kmetko – breathe. Just tell me what's going on."

Emily told him the whole story, Darby's arrival, her decision to return to gymnastics and how that meant she was putting the baby up for adoption. "So that's basically what's been going on. I was at the pool today training with Darby."

Damon sat there, very still.

"Say something."

Damon took his own advice and took a deep breath, he took Emily's hands in his own. "I am so glad you've decided to return to gymnastics. I'm proud of you. And I understand why you want to put the baby up for adoption but we need to talk it through: there are other options. But Em, please let me in the next time you decide to make big life decisions. It's my baby too." Damon sounded like he was on the verge of tears when he mentioned their baby.

Emily came over to Damon and hugged him. "I will, I should have told you."

"Yes you should have but I guess I kind of abandoned you before when you came to LA so can we call it even?"  
>"Done." Emily leant her head on her boyfriend's shoulder and Damon held her tight and tried not to show that the whole world felt like it was crashing down on him.<p>

They sat like that for a while before deciding that they should go for a walk along the beach before Emily started her second training session with Darby and then had her tutoring and school work to do.

"You're even busier than you were when you were working at the Pizza Shack and training at the Rock." Damon teased as they dipped their toes into the cold water.

"It seems like it, and lugging this around doesn't help" Emily pointed to her stomach. "But I love LA you know? Oh so what was the news you were going to tell me?"

Damon cringed. "I kind of put an offer on a house. I know, I should have asked you but it seemed perfect for us and the baby." Damon was surprised to find tears welling up in his eyes when he thought about the son or daughter he would never get to raise.

"You bought a house! What did you do, rob a bank?"

"Not quite by burglary skills have thus far been limited to breaking into gyms after hours." Damon deadpanned, making Emily laugh "no my album did quite well, it went platinum which, apparently is a big deal and I guess I'm kind of rich."

Emily beamed "I am so proud of you." She said before kissing him "and don't apologise for not telling me, although next time maybe check that I like it too."

"You're not mad?" Damon was incredulous.

"Not at all, but I think we both have a lot of processing to do tonight. I still want to put the baby up for adoption, even if we can afford a nanny. So maybe if you take me home we can mull everything over and decide what we're going to do."

"Okay, but Emily, have another think about this adoption thing for me?" Damon pleaded.

Emily forced a smile "I'll think about it." She lied.

Damon squeezed her hand. He hadn't ever had these many emotions running rife inside him before: he had just become used to the idea of being a father: he didn't know if he could take having that thought stripped away from him. The car ride home was more or less silent: Emily was exhausted and Damon jaded. It was going to be a long night for them both.

XXX

Summer was usually an administrative whiz. Everything in the Rock office was alphabetised and compartmentalised, her wardrobe was always ordered, every bill was always paid on time but with the document before her Summer couldn't bring herself to fill it out. She'd been putting it off for weeks and Lauren was going to start to realise that if she didn't do something soon.

The sliding door to the office opened, making Summer jump.

"Everything ok?" Kim asked.

Summer forced herself to act calm "oh everything's fine, why do you ask?"

"I was just checking if you were still good for our lunch with Chloe?"

"Oh shoot! I forgot it was Tuesday, I'll be right with you Kim." Summer hurriedly shoved the adoption papers that Lauren had practically forced on her into the nearest drawer. Kim, Summer and Chloe had started to have weekly lunch dates not long after Emily left the Rock. Kim had initiated them: Payson might be missing Emily but Kim was sure she was missing Chloe more. The vivacious brunette was the only other Rock parent who didn't think the sun shone out of their ever orifice. Kim and Summer pulled up to the salad bar that was their habitual meeting place. Chloe was sitting out the front, soaking up the sun and for once she didn't look like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"Hello ladies!" Chloe stood up clumsily and waved, causing people to stare. Summer and Kim grinned at each other and walked over to join her. They chatted for a while, Chloe noticed that Summer was still wearing Steve's engagement ring so when Kim stood up to go to the bathroom she decided to say something. If Summer was still engaged to Steve she needed to know about the strip club.

"How is everything going with Steve and Lauren?" Chloe asked, trying to sound subtle and failing miserably.

Summer realised she was still wearing her engagement ring. "Oh it's over Chloe and I'm not sure about this adoption thing with Lauren. The girl's almost eighteen and since Steve and I aren't in any sort of relationship it would make it harder."

"I guess that makes sense. What does the adoption process involve? I'm just wondering because Emily was thinking of giving the baby up for adoption" Chloe didn't mention Emily' return to gymnastics. Summer had a good heart but she was known to put her foot in her mouth.

"Really? Well it's quite a complicated process but private adoption is much easier – before the birth both parents agree to give the baby up and they sign their parental rights over to the adoptive parents."

"That sounds so serious and, well final." Chloe said softly.

"It doesn't have to be, you can have open adoptions where the biological parents are kept in the loop, the child can know they're adopted and the birth parents can keep in touch."

"That sounds better, have you been interested in adoption for a while."  
>"Kind of – before I met Steve I'd become resigned to the fact that I wouldn't ever have children" Summer said sadly, remembering that lonely time in her life. "So I thought adoption seemed to be the best way forward."<p>

Chloe smiled at her friend "You'll make a great mother, Summer." She paused, thinking whether this would be a good idea and said "in fact do you want me to put you into contact with Emily?"

Summer's jaw dropped "would you. Oh Chloe I would be so grateful, it's been my dream since I was a little girl to be a mother."

Chloe came over and hugged the younger woman. "It's Emily's decision at the end of the day but she needs all the support she can get. Have a talk to her, and if it makes any difference to you, I'd be happy for you to raise my grandchild."

Summer gave Chloe a watery smile and hugged her tightly.

XXX

"Again Payson" Sasha shouted at his most diligent gymnast to redo her vault. Sasha didn't want to rush anything but he thought that Payson's power moves might be coming back, and if she managed to master them again she would most likely be unstoppable. He wanted that more than anything for her. Payson had been through so much but she kept on going. He watched her run, focused up to the vault, saw her jump, hamspring and turn and land on her back with a deep thud. His heart lurched and his mind flashed back to that fateful day at nationals.

"Payson!" He knelt down beside her "Are you hurt?"

Payson looked up to her coach, saw the look of concern on his face and started to cry. "I'm so freaking useless. That was a ridiculously easy vault and I blew it."

Sasha was shocked, Payson never felt sorry for herself or got worked up. "What's really going on Payson? Something's been bothering you, you've been tense all week."

"Nothing, it's fine. I'm sorry for being a brat." After she'd finished her sentence the blonde gymnast's eyes inadvertently flickered in Max's direction.

Sasha followed her gaze and felt a pit of anger rise up in his stomach. If that kid hurt her in any way he would punch his pretty boy nose into a completely different shape. "Payson, listen to me: you're a beautiful young woman but more importantly you're strong. Whatever's got you down you'll overcome because you're a champion. You know that don't you?"

Payson dried her eyes and hugged her coach. As she did so she realised that, apart from her father, Sasha was the only man she'd always been able to rely on.

Lauren looked at her teammate hugging her coach and rolled her eyes, Payson was so selfish. She knew that she and Max were having a thing because he was bi: she should just be grateful that Payson had chosen him and she was now getting all of Sasha's attention when he should have been coaching the rest of them. She walked over to them and loudly tapped her foot on the wooden floorboards.

"Um am I interrupting anything?" She said snarkily.

Sasha sighed. Lauren still thought had the mindset that no one else could have anything because it meant that there was less for her. "What's up Lauren?" he tried to sound patient.

"I need to head off now, Summer needs to talk to me, she says it's important and since you're _so_ busy with Payson you wouldn't mind me leaving."

"Fine go." Sasha said, resigned. He didn't have time to worry about Lauren's feelings when Payson was falling apart.

Lauren felt like she'd been slapped, she'd been expecting more of a fight but Sasha clearly had his priorities. Lauren turned on her heel, nose in the air to meet Summer.

Sasha grinned, "please tell me her theatrics cheered you up a bit?" he said to Payson.

Payson grinned genuinely for the first time in days "so much" she said "so back to the vault? We've wasted almost ten minutes."

"That's the Payson I've missed."

Lauren was excited to be spending time with Summer, they had hardly seen each other since Worlds, now that she and Steve were on a break. She refused to believe that they were broken up for good: Summer wouldn't do that to her.

"Summer" Lauren said enthusiastically. She walked over and kissed her on the cheek.

Summer cringed, Lauren was not going to be happy with what she was going to tell her "ready to go? I thought we'd get afternoon tea."

"Ooh bonding, sounds fab!" Lauren clapped her hands together.

When they were seated Summer pulled the adoption papers out of her bag.

"Oh Summer you've filled them out? I'm so glad."

"Lauren: I'm so sorry, I can't adopt you. And to be fair, you never really asked me you just forced the idea on me and didn't take no for an answer. And also with your father and I not in a relationship it makes things almost impossible."

"But you and Daddy are in a relationship _duh_ Summer."

Summer sighed "no Lauren, we aren't. I can't adopt you I'm sorry." Summer said, breaking into tears.

Lauren frowned "what's the real reason?"

"I just told you it's too inconvenient."

"You're a crap liar Summer. There is some other reason and I'm going to find out what it is. But in the mean time don't bother talking to me ever. Again." Lauren almost ran out of the diner. Once she was out of the main streets she started running properly: the wind making her hair stream behind her. She loved running: it was the one place where she could escape to and feel like no one could catch her. No one could hurt her. She found one of the many bush tracks that surrounded Boulder and pounded it, finally she ran back home and went into the gym that was the basement. She pulled out the punching bag and put on a pair of Steve's old boxing gloves and pounded it and pounded it until her arms felt like jelly. Finally she threw the gloves off, sat down in the corner and cried for the fact that another mother figure had abandoned her.

Summer stood up to follow Lauren, but then she realised it was futile. The girl had so many issues and she couldn't fix them. She never could have fixed them, she knew that now. It was Steve's job to help her through that and ultimately Lauren needed to realise that hurting other people wasn't going to make her hurt go away. Summer pulled out the piece of card Chloe had given her with Margi's address. She couldn't fix Lauren but she had an opportunity to held Emily, she didn't know if anything would even come of this – she and Emily weren't particularly close and it was short notice but she had to try.

**A/N so Lauren finally realises that the world does not revolve around her (took her long enough!) but to be fair, the girl does have some issues! Thank you everyone for your reviews and please let me know what you thought, have a good weekend!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Don't you cry tonight**

Emily was pissed. Margi had invited Damon and Darby over for dinner. She wasn't too bothered with Darby since her coach practically saw her 24-7. Emily had a sneaking suspicion that since the baby was due in only two weeks Darby wanted to make sure Emily had her return to gymnastics in her mind as much as possible. Having Damon over, on the other hand, bothered her immensely. Since their walk on the beach, Emily had carefully avoided any mention of adoption, despite Damon hinting at her to reconsider. But he was too sweet to express his opinion forcefully. That made Emily feel like crap because she knew how he'd become used to being a father but Emily knew that if she kept the baby she wouldn't be able to give gym everything. And that made her feel selfish and then she got mad at Damon for making her feel selfish. Emily rolled her eyes at her chain of thought: Chloe always said that Emily could think herself in circles.

"Well, thank you Margi that was delicious." Darby said a bit too loudly. It had been a very awkward meal, with lots of long silences, they'd become even worse when the kids left the table: the older ones putting the younger ones to bed before doing their homework.

"Yes it was great, thank you." Damon chimed in "wasn't it, Emily?"

Emily glared at him for making her seem like a petulant child. "Sure, but you know I'm kind of tired, so I might just do the dishes then head off to bed." Emily picked up Darby's plate, put it on her own and started to stand up.

"It's 7pm, M." Margi said knowingly: she wasn't going to get Emily out of what she'd planned for this evening that easily.

"Well you know me, I like my sleep."

"Uh huh, you like it in the morning but you haven't gone to bed a wink before 11 in months. Sit back down."

Emily gave her godmother a wry smile and sat. There was no point arguing with Margi: she made Sasha look like a fluffy teddy bear. Well, almost.

"I know it's been a rough ride for you all. Especially you two." She nodded at Emily and Damon. "But I think you all need to clear the air, there's no point tiptoeing around. So I've got someone who can help you decide what course of action to take."

Damon, Darby and Emily all shared a confused look. "Margi, what's going on?"

Margi smiled and was about to speak when the doorbell rang. "Wow Chloe wasn't lying when she said Summer was punctual." Margi murmured as she went to answer the door.

"Did she just say Summer? As in Summer van Horne?"

"Maybe, I have no idea why she would be here though. She seemed nice and all but we were never particularly close." Emily replied.

"Then I should probably go: I'm not exactly her favourite person." Darby said awkwardly.

"No stay, please? This is obviously something important and I need your support."

Darby's heart wrenched at how scared Emily seemed. She smiled at her gymnast and gripped her shoulder "I'll wait for you in the guest wing, fill me in when you find out what's going on."

Darby left to go around the back to the east wing of the house, and shortly afterwards Margi re-entered followed by Summer, who smiled shyly at Emily and Damon. Emily smiled back and waved coyly. She was thoroughly confused.

"Chloe rang me a couple of days ago and said that Summer wants to discuss something with you two. I'll leave you all to it then." Margi left the room, making Emily feel hopeless.

"Um have a seat Summer." Emily said awkwardly.

Summer sat, hands clasped in front of her. Damon and Emily took the couch opposite her. Emily instinctively reached for Damon's hand and Damon took her hand and twined her fingers with his.

"I would make a mundane remark or say a self evident truth but I'm no good at small talk." Summer said nervously "so I guess I'll cut to the chase, have you made a decision about adoption yet Emily?"

Emily was angry and she could tell by the way Damon's back stiffened that he was on guard too. Summer was normally quite blunt but this was bad, even for her. But although Chloe wasn't that strict, she'd always taught Emily to be polite, so much so that it was a habit.

"Um we're still mulling things over I guess Summer."

"Oh I see. Well I know this is intrusive and it's a huge bombshell to drop on the two of you at an emotional time, but if you do decide to put your baby up for adoption I would be honoured to adopt him or her. I am totally fine with an open adoption, you could see your child all you want and you could name them, I'd make sure you'd be involved. And I promise I won't force religion on him or her." Summer sounded so eager and desperate that Emily's heart wrenched. Summer would always love her child, that much was certain. And, thought the bitchy part of Emily's mind: if she could be patient with Lauren then she would be a good mother to just about everyone. Emily looked at Damon. She knew deep down that the idea of adoption freaked him out. Damon looked at Emily with tears in his eyes. And Emily was surprised to feel two tears escape down her cheeks.

"Can we talk about it for a moment alone Summer?" Emily said thickly.

Summer came over to hug the young brunette. "Take as much time as you need." She pressed a card with her contact details into Emily's hand, and pulled out a sleeve of tissues and gave them to Damon.

Emily gave a watery smile "you always were super organised."

XXX

Payson and Kelly had been at the gym 2 hours earlier than usual. The Rock's yearly ranking meet was coming up in a few weeks which would determine how each gymnast would rank at the Rock and also who would be going to nationals. Both Payson and Kelly were after the top spot, relentlessly practicing their routines over and over again. Kelly had tried to get a couple of snide remarks in to Payson, but Payson ignored her: so Kelly gave up. Kelly walked over to the water fountain to fill up her drink bottle and saw Payson trying to do the new amanar vault, but she kept falling at the end. Kelly walked over to her. "How's it going Keeler?"

Payson rolled her eyes. "Please don't rub in the fact that you had the amanar nailed a year ago, you're two inches shorter than me _and_ have had the luxury of not having your back broken and being out for months."

"Chill robot lady I just came over to say that if you run a fraction slower in your run up your momentum will be better suited to the 2 and a half twist and you will be less likely to fall on your dismount."

"Robot lady? That's the best insult you've got? No wonder Lauren always wastes you when you have insult wars."

"One Lauren does not waste me and two, just try it? I had exactly the same problem when I was learning it."

Payson rolled her eyes. "Well it's worth a try but if I land on my head I'm holding you responsible."

Kelly was slightly hurt that Payson still didn't quite treat her like a friend but she smiled anyway. "I'm glad you have so much faith in me."

Payson smirked at her and began to run- visualising her vault as she did so and trying not to rush the run in. Before she knew it she was flying through the air, her body weightless and twisting. Then suddenly she landed: on her feet, knees bent. Her hands flew up into the automatic salute. She beamed and ran over to Kelly, and to the surprise of both of them, hugged her. "Thanks Kelly!"

Kelly was happy. No one had ever genuinely hugged her before. "That was amazing Pay."

"I can do better."

"You are _such_ a robot!"

"Like you aren't."

The girls laughed and went to chalk up. As they were doing so Lauren and Kaylie walked in. Lauren was yabbering away and Kaylie looked half asleep and annoyed that Lauren wouldn't shut up.

"Hey Payson" Lauren said, pointedly ignoring Kelly "is Summer here yet?"

"Oh is Barbie feeling insecure because her fake mummy hasn't called her this morning?" Kelly said.

"Shut it, at least my nose doesn't look like a pig snout!"

"That's the best you've got?"

"Well it's true." Lauren said vehemently. "So Payson, have you seen Summer?"

"No – she texted Mum to say she'd be out of town for a week or so."

"A whole week?"

"That's what she said." Payson said, trying not to roll her eyes. Lauren was wasting her valuable training time. "Look I need to go work on my vault."

"Yeah sure." Lauren said distractedly. She felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. Summer was going to be gone for a whole week and didn't bother to tell her. It looked like things really were over. She walked over to the beam and ran her hand along its smooth surface. Usually envisaging her routines made her feel alive and they could take her mind off anything, but not today. Angrily she punched the beam stormed out of practice.

XXX

"So what do you think?" Damon said after the two of them had been silent for a long while.

Emily looked at the person she considered her best friend and her soulmate. "I think it's perfect, but Damon I know you're not sure about adoption."

Damon pulled Emily into a hug. "My main problem was that I didn't want to be like my Dad. I didn't want my kid, our kid, to think their whole life that I'd abandoned him or her."

"Damon, you are nothing like your father."

"But I guess with Summer being there and letting us be involved it won't be bad. In fact, I think it's a good idea too."

Emily beamed "you're sure?"

"I will be. I just need time to process. But to be honest it's the best thing for everyone. I mean we might have money and dreams but we're not there yet. But Summer, she can over the baby a stable life and what's more it's her dream to have a kid."

"That's true, so we tell her yes?"

"We tell her yes."

Emily was quiet for a while, she snuggled into Damon's shoulder as she did so often and he put his arm around her and whispered in her ear "a penny for your thoughts, milady?"

"It's really happening. Our baby is going to have a stable life and I'm still going to the Olympics. I'm happy, but I feel kind of tired, and a bit sad too."

"Me too but this is better." Damon said, sure of himself.

"This is better." Emily agreed. She got to her feet, with some difficulty and went into the rec room where Margi and Summer were laughing hysterically. Emily smiled to see them: Margi hardly ever got any time to herself and it was nice to see this freer side of Summer. The two women saw Emily enter and they hurriedly got to their feet.

"Emily?" Summer asked quietly. It was only one word but that sentence conveyed so much.

Emily smiled, tears in her eyes. "Yes, Summer I, I would be honoured if you would adopt my child."

Summer's face held the biggest smile. "Oh Emily, I'm so humbled by this. I really am." She murmured as she went over to hug Emily. Margi walked over and hugged them both. She was so happy for her goddaughter. Damon came and joined them and he, Emily and Summer worked an adoption agreement. They would collectively choose the name, and Emily and Damon could see the baby as much as they wanted as long as they called first. And they would spend Christmas, Thanksgiving and birthdays together whenever possible. It wasn't official though. Emily and Damon would have to wait until the baby was born before they signed the parental rights over to Summer. Emily was dreading that. She knew it was best for everyone but she knew it would be one of the hardest days of her life.

XXX

Chloe looked at her hot pink calendar. It was exactly one week before the date she had circled with her silver sharpie and covered with smiley faced stickers: Emily's due date. She grinned, now that the baby was going to be put up for adoption and Chloe would get to see her grandbaby as much as she wanted she was very excited. She finished packing the last of her leopard skin print tights (a girl could never have too many) into her suitcase. Then she realised something that made her heart sink: Chloe could easily drive over to LA but Brian needed special equipment to get him there. Equipment that Chloe didn't have. How could she have been so stupid to overlook something as important as this? She swore and kicked the coffee table, causing it to topple over and make the stack of magazines that had been on top of it cascade to the floor. She sighed and began to pick them up when the phone rang.

"Hello?" She said despondently.

"Ms Kmetko?" Payson said "Are you ok?"

"Oh Payson, honey I'm fine, how are you? How is your training going? Emily says you've been working hard."

"Not as hard as Emily by the sounds of things." Payson said politely. She really hoped that Emily could make a successful comeback. Although Emily had only been at the Rock a year she had left a big hole, she hoped that Emily would come to her senses soon and start to train there again once she was ready.

"Oh Emily's doing great." Chloe said "Did you have a particular reason for calling Pay?"

"Well Ms Kmetko, I was wondering if I could come to LA with you to be there when Emily has the baby?"

Chloe beamed. Payson had always been one of her favourite gymnasts. She'd made the effort with Emily when she'd first arrived at the Rock and she didn't seem to bother with all the mind games. She was also one of the only adolescents who respected her: she called Chloe Ms Keeler despite being told repeatedly that she like being called Chloe.

"Payson I would love to take you up, and I know Emily would like it: especially since it looks like Brian might not be able to make it over to LA."

"What? Why not?" Payson asked.

"Well I can't accommodate his wheelchair and his special bed and the cost of hiring the equipment or buying another car..." Chloe let her sentence trail off. She was embarrassed about her financial difficulty but she knew Payson would understand. Her family hadn't been doing too well either until she'd received her endorsement from the Healthy Nut Company and her more recent one, for the Body Shop.

"Ms Kemetko, tell me where I can buy this equipment."

"Oh Payson, no. Don't take this upon yourself: I know your family hasn't been doing too well lately. Don't waste your money on me."

Payson rolled her eyes. The Kmetkos were the most deserving family she'd ever met but they were so selfless. They contrasted so much with the Tanner and Cruz families. "Ms Kmetko – the Rock needs a new bus to get us to meets and things. And since Emily's going to come back better than ever, our bus is going to need equipment to accommodate Brian. I'm going to call Sasha now."

"Payson honey, Emily doesn't want to go back to the Rock."

"Not yet, but she will once I wear her down enough." The blonde girl said with her famous stubbornness.

"How are you going to explain the wheelchair things to Sasha?"

"Have you met the man? He couldn't care less about little details like that. I'll just get Mum to make the lists of costs and things and then confuse him till he signs."

Chloe chuckled, that was Sasha all right. "Fine, but I'm buying you an ice cream the next time I see you."

"I can't wait" Payson replied "goodbye Ms Kmetko" she hung up the phone and went into the kitchen to find her mother.

XXX

"Faster Emily!" Darby yelled at her protégée.

Emily felt like puking, she was covered in sweat, the baby inside her was kicking her like crazy. Emily was pretty sure her son or daughter was wondering why she was torturing him or her. And her leg muscles were screaming from the pedalling.

Darby marched over. "I said faster!" She said angrily and turned up the resistance on the bike. Emily grunted and gave Darby the evils: she was far too exhausted to say anything. But she was pretty sure Darby got the message.

Darby just grinned "you'll thank me for this later once you're standing on that podium."

"Not...likely." Emily managed to splutter.

After another half an hour of agony Darby said Emily's new favourite three words "and we're done."

Emily stopped abruptly and half toppled of the exercycle. "Water, please."

"Here, well done. You are a machine Miss Emily."

"And you're a slave driver."

"Why thank you."

"You really need to learn what a compliment is." Emily said teasingly to her coach. The two smiled at each other and Damon walked in.

"Wow you're red."

"And you're funny, real funny." Emily said good naturedly. "What brings you here?"

"Well this just came in the mail." Damon held out an envelope.

Emily took it and saw that the return address on the back was her SATs marking place. "Oh my God, I can't look at it. Damon you open it."

Damon grinned, and dramatically pulled a letter opener out of his back pocket. "Miss Emily Kmetko, your SAT overall score, if I could have a drumroll please..." Darby obliged by whacking her knees "is 2350 out of 2400."

"That's not funny."

"You're right it's fricken incredible. My girl's a champion and a genius." Damon said and Emily hugged him, she had tears in her eyes again. Life finally seemed to be working out in her favour for once.

**A/N sorry this took a bit longer than usual to update, I've got exams, sigh but I'll try to keep updates as regular as possible. Thank you for your reviews on the last chapter. Hope you liked this one, please let me know what you though. Good bad indifferent, I don't mind =). Next chapter is the baby being born eep! That happened quickly. Ok I'll stop typing now – but review, please! It makes my week when you do.**


	8. Chapter 8

**50Chapter 8: sometimes the smallest things take up the biggest place in your heart – AA Milne**

Payson knocked tentatively on the office door. It had been a long day and she didn't know how willing Sasha would be to talk.

"Come in" her coach murmured.

"Hi Sasha" Payson said a bit too brightly.

Sasha scowled, no one was naturally that happy after eight hours training, not even Payson Keeler.

"I just wanted to thank you for training today, it was really, really good."

Sasha laughed in spite of himself, the girl was far too obvious. "Ok Keeler, what do you want?"

Payson sighed "you saw right through me."

"Well I am your coach – I do know you quite well." Sasha said easily, making Payson blush slightly. That was the understatement of the year. Many girls and parents at the Rock commented on how well the two of them worked together and understood each other. Payson forced herself to stop her train of thought: it couldn't lead to anywhere good. She cringed at the memory of Ellen Beals walking into the Rock and showing everyone the photo.

"Fine then. I need you to sign something." Payson held out the order for the new bus that her mother had drawn up. It was going to cost Payson a lot to get them to put in Brian's special equipment and to get them to do it at such short notice. But it was Payson's money, not the Rock's – she just needed Sasha to sign off on it for her.

Sasha took the forms, skimmed through them and whistled. "No, absolutely not: the Rock doesn't have all that much money Payson and money is better spent in improving our gymnasts not wasting money on stuff."

Payson had been half expecting this, she knew Sasha was unmaterialistic – he lived in a caravan after all.

"But Sasha, I'll be paying for it. Please it's really important that we get our new bus to take us to meets and everything. You know how awful it is when buses break down." Payson said alluding to the incident with the juniors which involved a mammoth effort pushing the bus a fair way down the road and then Sasha forking out a small fortune in taxi fares.

Sasha rolled his eyes at the memory. "Yes I agree with you that we need a new bus. However we do not need one urgently and we don't need all this fancy stuff." He said pointing at the additional expenses that covered Brian's equipment "and we certainly do not need one of our gymnasts paying for it: endorsements or no."

"Please Sasha it's really important to me that we have this bus and we do need this equipment."

Sasha frowned, despite outward appearances he hated to let any of his gymnasts down. Especially this one, who had worked so hard, he reread the form. "But Payson – all this additional stuff it looks like special equipment for wheelchair bound people."

Payson swore inwardly: she didn't think Sasha would have picked up on that. She just smiled awkwardly "well you never know when it will come in useful."

Sasha laughed "you really think I'm clueless, don't you? Explain please."

Payson glared at her mentor: she knew there was no point in lying to him, he'd see right through it and then just be annoyed. Payson sighed "well Emily is having her baby in a about a week and Chloe can't afford to take Brian over. Please Sasha, I know you're disappointed in Emily but she needs Brian to be with her." Payson was surprised to feel a tear escape down her cheek.

Sasha was shocked. He'd completely forgotten that Emily was nearly due, which made him feel like crap. He knew it was kind of inappropriate to basically use the gym's resources to help Brian but the Kmetko family had it tough and Sasha still felt partially responsible for Emily. So Sasha simply nodded. "Ok, Payson: and I think you should take a couple of days off to go up – Kaylie and Lauren too." He signed the form and strode out quickly, avoiding Payson's gaze.

Payson grinned and held the form to her chest. She couldn't wait to see Emily, but she wasn't too keen on having to drag Kaylie and especially Lauren along but it was the Rock's bus. Payson came out to the gym floor and saw Sasha punching a punching bag fiercely, tears streaming down his face. He didn't see Payson and Payson snuck out quickly. Sasha wouldn't want her to see him like this.

XXX

"I can't believe we are giving up training for this: it's so pathetic, no one even liked Emily anyway." Lauren grumbled to Kaylie as she stepped on the bus. "And travelling in a bus, seriously? What happened to class?"

"Because you know all about class don't you Lauren." Brian quipped good-naturedly as the electronic sliding ramp came down to meet his wheelchair.

"And since when do you care about missing training? Little miss I'm going to throw a tantrum and run out of practice." Kaylie said much less good-naturedly. The national champion was getting more annoyed by Lauren every day. Payson laughed at her comment and Lauren just glared at them.

"Fine, pick on the one team member who actually values her training over some stupid bus trip. I'm going to use the time to sit at the back and visualise." Lauren said before shoving her expensive headphones in her ears and striding down the aisle, nose in the air. Payson and Kaylie grinned at each other: as annoying as Lauren was, she was always good entertainment.

Chloe and the driver got on last: Chloe was quieter than usual. The reality of what was happening was really starting to sink in. The past two years had been a massive whirlwind. Joy at her daughter getting to train at the Rock, and then the national team, swiftly followed by sadness at her break up with Steve and having to work at a strip club. Then when things started to seem alright again: her pride and joy getting pregnant and leaving. Chloe leant her head against the bus window like a school girl, enjoying watching the world go by. She had no idea what the future was going to hold.

XXX

Emily struggled to her feet as her mother walked into the living room. Just seeing Chloe made Emily want to weep with relief. Emily didn't want to admit it, but she was terrified of what was going to happen and having her mother there made everything better. Chloe carefully avoided looking at Emily's stomach and went to hug her daughter tightly. "Oh honey I've missed you so much." She said softly as Emily pressed her head into her mother's shoulder. Chloe could feel Emily's tears flowing onto her top.

"I've missed you too Mum, but I had to leave."

"Shh I know, don't you dare apologise: I'm so proud of you. You know that, don't you? And there's another one of your fans here too." Chloe said as Brian wheeled his way in. Emily squealed and went to hug her brother.

"You're going soft on me Em." Brian teased.

"Says the one who's crying."

Brian wiped away one of the tears that had escaped down his cheeks. Brian had been teased and bullied for years: he'd also had to put up with a lot of people avoiding him because of their ignorant belief that his situation was somehow contagious. As a result he was pretty tough, but seeing his sister for the first time in months swamped him with emotion. He hadn't realised how much he'd missed her. Emily and Brian were closer than most siblings. Their rough circumstances pushed them together.

XXX

"I always forget how pretty the beach is." Kaylie said as the girls sat at a picnic table eating frozen yoghurt. She was enjoying the break from training and all the speculation surrounding whether she would still be able to retain her national championship despite her eating disorder. Although Kaylie didn't admit it to anyone, there were some days when she felt like giving up. She worked so hard, she'd bet Gengi Cho, overcome an eating disorder and won three medals at worlds but people still judged her and didn't take her seriously. And there was always that niggling voice at the back of her conscience that told her that if she and her father hadn't been so caught up in gymnastics, her family might still be together.

"It's special. I liked Boulder and all but there are only so many mountains and snow you can put up with before it gets boring and cold." Emily agreed. She was touched that her friends had decided to come for the baby being born but it was sort of awkward. She could tell Lauren couldn't really care less: the two of them had never been close. And since only Payson knew about her wanting to return to gymnastics, it was hard to find things to talk about since most of her time was taken up with training.

"So who feels like going for a run after this? I feel so fat and lazy from not training for two whole days." Lauren said with a pointed look at Emily. She was jealous that Kaylie and Payson had readily made the effort to come and visit Emily when not even her own family made an effort with her. "I don't know what I would do without gymnastics, I mean lounging around home all the time. I just don't know how I could manage it: I'd get so bored."

Emily caught Payson's eye and the two girls burst out laughing at how clueless Lauren was. Payson snorted mid giggle which made them laugh even harder.

"What?" Lauren demanded.

"Nothing, Lauren – yes I feel weird not training too but enjoy this. We should be grateful that Sasha's actually given us time off." Payson said condescendingly which just made Lauren scowl.

Emily was about to suggest they take a dip in the water when a searing pain shot through her stomach. It was more painful than anything she'd ever felt in her life, and even though she had a high pain threshold she whimpered.

"Please don't tell me that was a contraction." Payson said. She loved Emily to bits but she really, really didn't want to watch her in labour.

"I think so." Emily said, still wincing from the pain.

Payson gulped and tried to stay calm and not feel nauseous. "Ok, um good. Well I'll drive you to the hospital in the car Margi lent us. Kayles can you let Margi and Chloe know?"

Emily forced herself to smile at her friends "Margi may want you two to look after the kids."

Kaylie smiled and came over and hugged Emily tightly "of course, good luck. If you can do a blind landing on the vault, this will be a piece of cake and we'll be there to visit as soon as the baby's born and you're ready."

"Thanks Kaylie. It means a lot, you being here." Emily said before Payson ushered her into the car.

The blue Toyota was a bit run down, but Payson liked driving it. She'd feel a lot more nervous driving a fancy car that someone else had lent her.

"I can't believe this is happening." Payson said "are you nervous?"

"Terrified, but I don't think I'm as terrified as you. I've never seen you go so pale. I would have burst out laughing at your reaction if I hadn't been in so much pain."

"I'm going to tactfully ignore that, but only because you're in labour and I feel sorry for you."

"That's a good enough reason for me. Pay?"

The blonde girl looked over to her best friend "yeah?"

"Thank you."

Payson, keeping one hand on the steering wheel leant over and gripped Emily's hand. "You don't need to thank me, you're my friend."

Emily smiled and was about to reply when another contraction came, far worse than the last one.

Payson went totally pale again. "Ok I don't care what my driving instructor told me, I'm speeding, as much as I love you I'm not delivering your kid for you."

Payson had never been so glad to see a hospital in her life. She pulled up to the parking lot where Chloe and Damon were waiting with a wheelchair. They rushed over and made Emily sit in it, despite her protesting that she wasn't an invalid. Damon pushed the wheelchair with one hand, his other firmly intertwined with Emily's.

The next seven hours were the most intense of Damon's life. He held Emily tightly as she pushed and pushed, and cried. Seeing her in so much pain made him want to hurl but he tried to stay strong for her. Even so, after their son was finally born Damon cried like he'd never cried before. He was perfect. Summer had generously let him and Emily hold the baby for a while before Summer took him to the social workers' centre where he would stay until all the paper work was signed and Summer could take him home as her son. Emily held the tiny bundle in her arms. Their baby already had a mop of dark brown hair.

"He looks like his Daddy." Emily said sadly.

"No he's far too good looking for that, he looks like you." Damon said. "You are so amazing Emily."

"Summer's going to be an amazing mother." Emily said before breaking down in tears. "But I'm going to miss him so much."

Damon climbed onto the bed and lay alongside Emily, putting his arms around her. "We'll get to see him all the time, and when he's old enough he'll realise how lucky he is to not only have adoptive mother who loves him like crazy but also a birth mother who is an Olympic champion."

Emily laughed "and a father who's a rock star." She passed their son over to Damon who took held him so gently it made Emily's heart tug at the perfect picture they made.

Damon stared into his son's eyes: they were exactly the same as his, even though he was only a few hours hold. "Em, what do you think of the name James? I know it's common but he's going to have an unconventional life as it is so the last thing he needs is a name like Enzo."

Emily looked at her boyfriend sleepily "James sounds perfect: as long as his middle name is Damon."

Damon rolled his eyes, although secretly he was touched. "Fine James Damon van Horne, welcome to the world." He said and kissed his son's head. Then he carefully stood up and took James out to meet Summer.

XXX

Chloe, Brian and the Rock girls were all making a fuss of James when Summer and Margi came into the ward bringing coffee for everyone. Summer cringed when she saw Lauren; she hadn't realised that she was here. Lauren turned around and when she saw Summer her face lit up and she went over to hug her.

"Oh I've missed you, Summer." Then she realised something was up "what are you doing here?"

Summer felt so guilty. She knew most people found Lauren annoying but Summer understood her, the girl, despite being completely spoilt grew up without a loving family. But part of her was relieved that she'd managed to break free from marrying Steve and adopting Lauren, they needed to sort their own problems out: Summer couldn't fix them.

"Oh I'm just here to see Emily and Sasha wants me to keep an eye on you girls. Here's your latte." Summer knew how pathetic that sounded, but she really didn't want Lauren to know the truth, not just yet anyway.

"Oh trust Sasha, he really needs to get a hobby. That's great, you can drive back with us on Friday, we have a lot of catching up to do." Lauren had decided that being angry with Summer wasn't going to work: she figured that she had a better shot of Summer coming back to her if she was sugar rather than spice.

Summer smiled awkwardly, wondering how to tell her that she wouldn't be going back for at least two weeks without sounding suspicious when Margi saved her.

"Summer's going to stay a tad longer: she wants to help me with the foster kids: you know how she's allowed to supervise your homeschooling tests? Well she's doing the same for a couple of my kids." Margi said, winking at her newest friend. She liked Summer more the longer she knew her, Summer smiled gratefully in return.

"Whatever" Lauren said, clearly bored "are you guys still keen to go to the beach, I haven't hung out with my besties outside of the gym for ages." She looked over to Emily, hoping to see a hurt expression on her face but the brunette just rolled her eyes, and Damon kissed her on the cheek. Lauren scowled: why did everyone else have people who were always there for them except her.

"Is it ok if we go Em? The beaches out here are amazing."

"Of course, make the most of it before you have to go back to Boulder. I need to nap anyway."

Kaylie and Payson hugged Emily and followed Lauren out of the ward. Chloe saw the big bags under her daughter's eyes and thought back to the day when she gave birth to Emily. "Honey Margi, Brian and I are going to head off too. You need your sleep, and I want to you know, as corny as it sounds that I am so proud of you." She said in her loud voice.

Emily grinned "nine months ago, that would have made me cringe but now Mum that means so much." She said as her family hugged and kissed her, before she knew it she had fallen asleep.

Damon, quietly extracted himself from the bed and went to call his manager to bring him a change of clothes and a razor. He was sure that he looked like a mess. He had never known someone could feel all these emotions at once. He found a chair and wearily started to dial his manager's number, he'd had so little sleep that the simplest tasks seemed daunting. As he was doing so Lauren rushed past him, saw him and stopped.

"Yo, pizza boy." She said, clearly not caring that he had his cell to his ear. Damon pointed to it and then mouthed 'one second'. Lauren rolled her eyes and tapped her foot. Damon sighed and ended the call before his manager picked up.

"My name's Damon, what do you want Lauren?"

"Whatever, pizza boy is much more fitting. Anyway, I left my iPod in the ward do you reckon it will be ok to get it. I was worried that the two of you would be getting freaky or something but I guess since you're out here it's safe."

Damon burst out laughing "oh you're funny. Not. Yeah, it's fine to go in Em's asleep and so is James so just be quiet."

"Sure, and you could really use a shave, just letting you know." Before Damon had a chance to respond Lauren went down the hall to Emily's room. Her former teammate was asleep: she looked so much older than he had just a few month ago but she somehow seemed more peaceful than before. Lauren saw her iPod on Emily's bedside table, grabbed it and left. As she was walking back down the hall she heard a familiar voice coming from the visitor's lounge. Lauren tiptoed closer and poked her head around the door.

"Oh you're such a gorgeous boy James, Mummy can't wait to take you home to Boulder: I've got your room all sorted. Grandpa's bought you a giant teddy, do you like teddies?" Lauren was confused, why was Summer talking to James and referring to herself as his mother.

"Only two weeks till we get the adoption sorted out, Mummy just can't wait. And Emily and Damon can visit you all the time." Summer continued to coo and Lauren felt like the whole world was crumbling down around her. Any hope she had of ever having a real mother was gone, and Emily Kmetko, of all people, had ruined that for her.

XXX

"Do you swear on this bible that you Emily Kmetko and Damon Young that you are sure and of sound mind that you will cede all rights of guardianship and parenthood of James Damon to Summer van Horne?"

Emily, Damon, Chloe, Summer and their lawyers were in a fancy lawyer's office. There was an expensive looking air conditioning machine that was on full blast but nevertheless Emily felt hot and clammy. She gripped Damon's hand and Chloe put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her tight. This was it, she knew it was the right decision but it didn't stop the feeling that there was a brick in the pit of her stomach. Damon looked into her eyes and simply nodded at her. Although he didn't say anything his gaze conveyed a world of emotion. She nodded back to him.

"We do." They said in unison. After Summer swore her oath the three of them signed the agreement. Summer came over and hugged her; Emily forced herself to smile even though it took all of her energy to do so. She then shook both the lawyers' hands (they were very impressed by both Emily and Damon and what their dreams were). It was not until they were safely in Margi's car that Emily broke down and cried more than she'd ever cried before.

XXX

Two weeks had gone by since James had been put up for adoption and Emily had spent most of it curled up in bed. She'd refused to see anyone, even Damon and eventually everyone got the idea that she wanted to be left alone. Emily looked at the clock on the cabinet 11.15am, it was late, but no later than she'd been getting up these past couple of weeks. Then she saw the calendar, it was exactly one month since James was born, and it had been two whole weeks since she'd given him away. She couldn't believe she'd done it, what sort of mother was she?

There was a knock on her door "go away." She said angrily.

"Emily, get up right now." Said a familiar voice.

"Please leave me alone, you don't know what I'm going through." That had been her excuse for her behaviour for the last two weeks, a part of her, the annoying voice in the back of her head, told her that she was being stupid and immature. But she couldn't bring herself to care.

The door swung open "actually I think I do, and unlike you I didn't have a supportive family or an open adoption. I have no idea where my daughter is or what she's doing but you do."

"Who cares, he'll hate me forever for giving him up."

Darby rubbed her temples, trying to think of the best way to approach things. She decided tough love was the way to go "no, no he won't but do you know what he will hate you for? He will hate you if you gave him up for nothing. So get your arse out of bed, get into your gears and meet me downstairs in ten minutes, we are going for a run."

"Darby, I don't know if I can do this."

"I know" Darby said, putting an arm around Emily "but I know you can, and until you feel ready to dream again, I will dream for you. All I need you to do is keep trying, keep training. Can you do that?"

Emily was silent for a while, then ever so quietly she said "yes."

**A/N sorry for the late update again, this chapter was a mission to write. Please let me know what you thought and I will try to be faster with my updates (promise!). xx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Life's gon' getcha down**

"These boxes are so heavy." Damon said, his fingers chafing against the cardboard of the box that contained a good deal of Emily's books. He tried to get a better grip on them but one of the books on top slipped and landed on the floor with a big thud. Damon sighed and half placed, half dropped the box to the ground. Emily walked past him, carrying a much bigger and much heavier box and smirked at her boyfriend.

"Struggling?" She asked sweetly. Emily had been training her butt off for four months since James was born and although she was nowhere near her best she was still stronger than Damon, not that that was much of an accomplishment.

"When I suggested we move ourselves in and didn't hire a moving company I expected pain but I did not expect to get beaten by a seventeen year old girl." Damon said good-naturedly. He was not one of those guys who was bothered by the fact that some girls could be stronger than him. He wasn't that insecure, and Emily loved him for it. She laughed and kissed him.

Damon deepened the kiss and smiled "what was that for?"

"For everything." She whispered "for believing in me, and for buying this fricking amazing house." She said as she looked around her living room. Margi had generously bought them some plush leather chairs and Emily had picked out some royal blue wall length curtains. The majestic effect was offset somewhat by a painting Matthew had done for Emily. He'd smeared every colour imaginable onto the canvas with his fingertips. Emily loved it. On the opposite wall there was a photo of Emily, Margi and the foster kids. Larissa, her usually bubbly self was standing in the middle of the group grinning ear-to-ear. Her facial expression made Emily laugh every time she saw it. She was going to miss her foster mother and the kids she'd come to think of as her siblings but she needed her own space now. Training took up all your concentration at the best of times. It was a thousand times worse trying to come back after giving birth. She thought back to the day, around three months ago when Darby had finally said she had done enough conditioning to start training again.

XXX

_Darby had finally given her the go ahead. Emily hugged her coach, this was the moment she'd been waiting for, for almost two months. She'd realised that conditioning till you could hardly move, let alone think, was a good distraction for the despair that came whenever she thought of her son. Summer, true to her word sent her emails every week, with photos attached. Whenever she saw one Emily felt like her heart was being ripped out all over again. Conditioning had become her life – she threw herself into it heart and soul, it was the one place where she could escape the crippling guilt she carried about James._

"_Are you ready?" Darby asked smiling. She was proud of Emily: she'd gained a couple of other students while in LA, to keep herself solvent, but she'd told them to go home early. Emily needed to do this in privacy. _

"_Of course!" Emily said, she didn't feel nervous at all, in fact she felt great. She'd never been as physically strong as some of the other girls, especially Lauren and Payson: artistry and flawless execution had been more her thing. But now, after the chin ups, press ups, prone holds and every other possible torture imaginable Emily was much more toned than she'd been before._

_Darby suddenly became very serious "ok, but Em, I'm warning you this won't be as easy as you think. You need to keep your spirits up. We're going to start on bars, it's your strongest. All I want is a simple mount, a handstand, a pirouette another handstand then drop without a dismount. Do not try to twist, I mean it."_

_Emily rolled her eyes. Her coaches always seemed to underestimate her skills. "Yes Darby." She said: as if she was going to a routine that simple, in fact you couldn't even call it a routine. She obediently mounted the bars and pulled herself up to turn into her handstand. She felt weird, like her body, that used to automatically know what it was doing, was resisting her. Her hips were wider than before and they felt heavy. With a mammoth effort she pulled herself up to a handstand but she could tell her lines weren't straight. She barely held it and then her arms, bent and then she was falling, she forced herself to turn mid air and she landed on her knees. Not the most dignified way to go but a heck of a lot better than landing on your head._

_Darby's face showed no emotion "try again."_

"_But Darby I can't my body's not the same it won't work."_

"_Get up."_

_Emily glared at her coach. She didn't seem to understand. But she knew better than to argue with Darby. She tried again, this time she managed two handstands but her body felt like it was screaming at her. Her joints were nowhere near as flexible as they had been. It took 20 tries before she could pirouette then get back up to do another handstand. Finally Emily, bruised and feeling defeated sat on the mat and sobbed "Sasha was right, it's impossible to come back after giving birth."_

_Darby came and sat by her star gymnast. "I hate to break it to you but Sasha is a man. He doesn't really know what he's talking about."_

"_But my body won't work – it feels like I'm working against it. Before it just sort of seemed to know what to do, I know that sounds weird but during a routine I'd just let go and my body would take over."_

_Darby put her arm around Emily "do you want to know why you were such a huge sensation when you got to the Rock two years ago? Why everyone was raving about you?"_

_Emily looked at Darby "no."_

"_It's not because you had power like Lauren or Payson, or because you had grace like Kaylie. It's not even that you wanted it more than them, it's because you loved what you were doing and because you instinctively knew what to do. Other girls take years to get their toe points correct, some girls try and try to link their moves together on beam but can't, others injure themselves severely because they can't judge how tight their spins need to be on their double Arabians. But you Emily, you are one of those rare gymnasts who has that natural in built rhythm, that ability to instinctively know what to do. And to top it off, you have passion."_

"_So do the others – look at Payson, I've never worked as hard as her."_

"_Payson is an amazing gymnast and yes she loves it but she loves the fact she can pursue excellence, whatever goal she chose she would love it because that is her goal: excellence. Kaylie loves how gymnastics makes her feel, that's why she seems so happy when she's on floor, she can express herself. And Lauren loves how gymnastics makes her feel powerful and in control. But you love gymnastics because it's gymnastics. You were born to do this. The others might find other things they love but gymnastics is your dream."_

_Emily stared at her coach in amazement, realising the truth of her words._

XXX

Since that day Emily had worked twice as hard as she ever had. She even came back in the evenings when Damon was busy recording. Larissa usually came with her, to help 'supervise' as she put it and then Emily would help Larissa with her homework. Her grades were coming up, slowly. Emily was touched by how much Larissa relied on her and it made Emily work even harder, and helped her from getting discouraged. It had been months of slogging it out on each apparatus but she was still nowhere near as good as she'd been. She'd clawed her way back to doing a 1.5 yurchenko on the vault, but she knew it was still a bit sloppy and she was aiming for at least a double before nationals. Her beam was a mess, the two backflips, standing Arabian, and her double twist dismount were all but a distant memory. Floor was ok, she found it much easier to express herself than she had before. But bars was her best apparatus. She'd relearned how to do a giant, and her dismount had a double twist: but it was the grace in her routine that Darby was most proud of. Her toe point was consistent through the whole routine, and even though Emily was quite tall for a gymnast she managed to keep herself totally straight. And tonight she was showing it to Damon and the others for the first time ever.

Margi, Larissa, Damon, Jacky and Larissa all watched in awe as they saw her perfect handstands and flawless pirouettes. Damon had taken out his iPhone and recorded it. He sent it to Payson with the message 'here comes the next world champion, be prepared to be knocked off your podium' before running over to Emily and hugging her.

XXX

Payson was exhausted. She couldn't get her Amanar quite right. Kelly's trick had helped but she wanted to get a bit more height. Finally Sasha called for everyone to stop for lunch. Payson rummaged around for her drink bottle and her phone. She saw there was a message from Damon from the night before. She played the video and saw Emily, more graceful than she'd ever been at the Rock perform a flawless routine. It wouldn't have a very high level of difficulty but the execution score would be very high. Payson was surprised to find tears in her eyes when Emily finished. She was so proud of her friend who had come this far despite going through more things in seventeen years than most people do in a lifetime.

Kaylie walked over to Payson, the national champion was in her customary pink leo. She looked exhausted. Payson couldn't imagine the strain she was under. Kaylie's parents were fighting over whether they should sell their home, and her father was thinking of moving to New York. On top of it all, they were set to give a big press conference for nationals coming up and all eyes were going to be on her to perform.

"What are you watching?"

Payson looked at her friend, wondering whether to tell her: Emily had given her permission to tell Kaylie but the right moment hadn't come – silently she handed her phone over to Kaylie, it would be better to show her. Kaylie took the phone and pressed play. Payson loved seeing her expression, going from confusion, to shock to pride. Despite what some people said about Kaylie being flightly and a bit of an airhead. One thing couldn't be denied: she loved her friends and family and supported them no matter what.

"Emily's coming back?" She asked quietly.

Payson smiled "didn't that just cheer you up?"

"So much, wow her style is so different. Who's coaching her?"

Payson rolled her eyes "Darby, Emily claims she's changed but I highly doubt it."

"But then on the other hand, if she managed to do a routine like this, maybe Darby isn't such a bad coach after all."

"Maybe I still think she'd be better off at the Rock though. I miss her." Payson said "and trust you to always see the best in people."

Kaylie smiled at the compliment. "Do you mind sending the video to me? I want something to watch to motivate me for the Rock rankings, I'm so not looking forward to them."

Payson smiled encouragingly at her friend "you're going to be fine. You ranked first last year, and you've been working really hard." Well she hadn't really, but Payson didn't blame her, she'd had a rough couple of months. Kaylie saw right through Payson but she appreciated that her teammate was trying to encourage her.

Before Kaylie could respond Sasha emerged from the office. "Your lunch break is over, and can I see the elite girls up by the office now."

Payson and Kaylie looked at each other, confused and joined Lauren and Kelly near the office. Payson could tell that their head coach was not happy. He had his arms crossed and a fire in his eyes. "I have been informed by MJ" she said his ex girlfriend's name bitterly "that ESPN wants to do a special interview with the Rock girls to get some publicity for the Rock rankings and for nationals. I agreed only because you all have some explaining to do about Worlds. I know you are all ashamed about the way you conducted yourselves as a team. I have already spoken to you about this and I will criticise you no further but you should all be aware that the reporter is going to be _very_ interested in what went wrong. I expect you to be composed, graceful, mature and taciturn where necessary. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Sasha" the four girls mumbled. Kaylie realised he'd left out an important detail. "Um when are the media going to be coming?"

Sasha grinned "half an hour after practice finishes tonight. If you thought I was going to actually let you take time out of training for this you must have been dreaming."

Lauren pouted "but Sahsa we have to shower and decide what to wear."

"MJ will be here with clothes and you'd better learn to shower fast."

Kelly snorted "not likely, Blair Whaldorf here takes at least forty five minutes every time, why do you think the Rock's power bill is so high?" Payson and Kaylie looked at each other and tried not to laugh. One of the best things about having Kelly at the Rock was that she and Lauren were too busy sniping at each other to get at them. It was pretty entertaining as well.

"Do I look like I care Parker? Now I want you all on bars, now." He said before walking down the stairs to the level 9 girls including Becca Keeler who were working on their beam routines.

The news of the interview had a big impact on all four of the girls. Sasha had kept them fairly sheltered from the press: they'd only really had to give interviews in the week following Worlds: in the months since then Sasha had made it clear that he did not want any unauthorised people in his gym. Payson was irritated at the distraction, Kelly was nervous about they would say about her all-around performance: although she was fairly sure that her three medals in the event finals would be enough to appease them and Lauren was scared that she'd be overshadowed by the other three. But no one was more nervous than Kaylie: she was the national champion: everyone expected her be dominating but instead she'd had to completely rework her whole training regime and she knew they would be keen to hone in on her anorexia. She rubbed her eyes, she'd asked Sasha if she could finish a bit earlier to mentally prepare for the interview and to her surprise he'd agreed. So she was in the changing room, trying her best to hold back tears, sometimes her life overwhelmed her. Instinctively she reached for her phone to check her texts. She smiled, Payson had found the time to send her the video of Emily: she played it, watching her friend execute one of the most beautiful routines she'd ever seen.

Lauren bounded into the changing room "Kales, how come you got off early? Oh a video let's see it." She grabbed the phone out of Kaylie's hand before her friend had time to react. Lauren's face went from curiosity to revulsion in a matter of seconds. "Tell me it's not who I think it is."

Kaylie looked at Lauren hopelessly. She was a terrible liar. "It's Emily – she's coming back. Isn't that amazing? And look at her lines and how well her moves flow and link."

Lauren scowled. "I can't believe you're supporting this. She is a slut and she doesn't deserve this." Lauren realised she was about to cry, angrily she threw the phone in Kaylie's direction and stormed out of the changing room, she wasn't going to let Kaylie see her cry. She curled her hands into fists and walked out of the gym quickly, hoping no one would see her. Then she went around the back, to the secret place she and Kaylie used to go when training got too tough. Lauren put her head in her hands. Emily Kmetko's kid had taken Summer from her. She always brought the annoying little brat into the Rock, he didn't even look like Summer and now Emily was coming back to gymnastics. And she was probably going to get a place on the national team. Bars were the USA's weakest event, sure Kelly and Payson were good on them but that was all, there wasn't the depth that there was on the other three apparatus. And if Emily came back that meant that Lauren would be pushed even further into the background, she was already treated as second class compared to Payson, the amazing comeback kid, Kelly the media darling and Kaylie the all American girl, and if Emily came back she'd be the amazing underdog who defined the American dream. Lauren could just imagine the headlines now 'from rags to riches: the Emily Kmetko story' the thought made her want to vomit. Sure those girls had amazing stories but none of them were as consistent as her. She stood up and walked back to the gym. She was going to rock this interview. She was sick of being second best to everyone.

"Lo, where have you been?" Kaylie said, worried "MJ's been looking for you everywhere." Kaylie was concerned about how Lauren had been acting recently: she seemed more reckless than usual, taking huge risks on her routines and not seeming to care when she came close to injuring herself.

"You mean someone actually _wants_ me and cares where I am? Well that makes a change" the blonde said snarkily.

"Lauren, please I have a headache: can we just get this over with as quickly as possible." Payson said, frustrated. If she had to choose between being forced to listen to Rebecca Black on repeat or do an interview she would probably choose the Rebecca Black song.

"I'm ready MJ, you're looking great by the way." Kelly said sycophantically.

"Cut the crap Kelly, it's the journalists you want to impress not me, you might want to tone down your eyeshadow a bit too."

Kelly smiled fakely, not wanting to show she was hurt by the snub, if there was one thing Kelly Parker was good at it was being the perfect superficial gymnastics princess in front of the media.

"Gag me" Lauren whispered and Payson laughed, making Lauren feel slightly better.

"Ok girls we're ready to go." MJ said "remember smile, you're world champions. You've got the world at your feet, you are it." Payson forced herself to smile politely: she felt far from the top of the world, she was tired and wanted to go home. Kelly rolled her eyes, the world was far from her oyster: her mother wasn't even talking to her. Kaylie couldn't bring herself to smile, she was nervous – everything was crumbling around her and she was worried that this interview was going to reveal that. Finally Lauren just glared at MJ, she knew no one believed in her and the agent was full of crap, she highly doubted whether the interviewer would talk to her at all.

MJ walked over to Sasha "what's going on with your girls?"

Sasha sighed, "I don't know, I think the pressure is finally starting to get to them, especially Kaylie and Lauren. I was hoping this interview would help them to remind them of how hard they've worked and how they are actually champions."

"Oh Sasha, you're so naive. A bunch of attention seeking seventeen year olds are not going to sort their problems out calmly in front of a camera." MJ said "if anything, it's just going to just make things worse."

"Too late to do anything about it now." Sasha said quietly "I hope you're wrong."

"I hope so too." MJ said as the four girls walked out to the back room. Kelly was smiling brightly but it didn't reach her eyes, Payson looked exhausted, Kaylie looked like the weight of the world was on her shoulders and Lauren looked livid. MJ winced – it didn't look good.

**A/N so this was pretty much a filler chapter. Emily gets back on her feet and the Rock girls are about to show the world they aren't invincible after all. **

**Lauren is screwed up I know but I thought this chapter we'd try to get inside her head a bit, you've got to admit no one really pays her much attention. In the next couple of chapters we're going to see what's going on with Kelly and her lovely mother and finally we'll see if Payson has it in her to forgive Max or if that chemistry with her coach is just too much to resist. We also have the interview from hell followed by the Rock ranking competition. Please let me know what you thought, all feedback is welcome =)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: All I ask of you**

Sasha looked at his elites anxiously. "I know I'm going to regret this but I'm going to sit in with them, something's bugging them."

MJ was sipping on her trademark evian water and almost spat some out. "You're serious? I had to bribe you with Toblerone to give a thirty second interview after you won your first all around title."

Sasha rolled his eyes "you twisted my arm to do this and I think I'm going to need to go in there for damage control."

"Fine go." MJ said, but Sasha had already walked off and hadn't heard her. He knocked lightly on the door to their room which Alex Cruz and Steve Tanner had envisaged exactly for this purpose. It was hardly ever used and that was the way Sasha liked it. Without waiting for an answer he walked in, smiled tersely at the two journalists and sat down between Lauren and Kaylie.

"Don't mind me" Sasha said sweetly, "carry on as if I wasn't here." Kaylie forced herself not to laugh: she'd yet to meet a member of the press who wasn't intimidated by Sasha; Christiane Amapour would probably be scared of him. The journalist nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat.

"Now Payson Keeler, the whole world has been talking about you: the girl with the broken back who fought her way back into gymnastics after so many disappointments who is now a world champion."

Payson smiled shyly and was about to answer when Lauren butted in.

"She's only world champion on one apparatus, it's not a big deal. It's not like she won the all around or anything." Lauren regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. Sasha and Kelly glared at her angrily: Payson studied her hands carefully and Kaylie looked at the reporter as if silently pleading her not to say anything.

Payson eventually looked at the reporter and smiled "I'm very proud of my accomplishments. I could not have done it without my coach, my team and my family. But Lauren is right: I can do better and I am definitely looking to improve my performance at nationals and then the Olympics." She smiled sweetly at Lauren as if to say nice try princess.

"You certainly do have a very impressive team here. It's a rare occasion when so many girls from one gym make it to the top, Payson, how does it feel competing with Kaylie and Kelly: the current national champion and former national champion?"

"It's great, as I said before all the girls are great competition and we just go out there and _support_ each other." Payson purposefully answered ambiguously as to whether Lauren was included in her statement.

The reporter moved on, Payson Keeler was a pretty girl but her boss had instructed her to get drama. Gymnastics needed a high profile. "So Kaylie you dropped quite a bombshell at worlds. How do you think your uh disorder has influenced your position as a role model?" There was a sharp intake of breath from all of the Rock girls and from Sasha. The reporter was even tackier than the normal press they sent.

Kaylie opened her mouth but realised she had nothing to say. Sasha put a hand on her shoulder "Kaylie Cruz has demonstrated great strength and courage in both overcoming her illness and by being open about it: it is a feat very few have accomplished and it has shown the world what an amazing young woman of integrity she is."

Kaylie looked at her coach and put her head into his shoulder. The reporter backed off, seeing the warning glare in the coach's eyes.

"Now our other big star who trains at the Rock is Kelly Parker: former national and world champion. How did you feel about your performance at Worlds?"

Kelly smiled sweetly "Sandra, you know what it's like, sometimes a girl has a bad day but I came away with four medals, one of them the team gold. There's room for improvement and I can't wait for nationals. You're going to be there I hope?"

Payson and Sasha grinned at each other. Kelly was playing the reporter like a piano. Lauren fumed at the fact she hadn't been included.

"Well spoken like a champion Kelly, the whole country can't wait for the showdown between you, Kaylie and Payson at the Rock rankings and then again at nationals, it's going to be dynamite. But before we wrap up this interview we have one last Rock Rebel to talk to, Miss Lauren Tanner, the Queen of the Beam. How does it feel to have to compete with what commentators have been calling the three best gymnastics the USA has ever seen?"

Lauren glared at the reporter, she knew that she was full of crap and just trying to get a reaction but Lauren had been looked over for too long, the reporter had all but labelled her the loser of the team and to top it all off Emily had decided that she was going to make things even worse.

Lauren smiled fakely "well to be honest Sandra I'm not threatened at all."

Sandra resisted the urge to punch the air and yell 'yes!' she knew the tone in the blonde gymnast's voice, she was about to say something catty. Something that could finally be used to make this dud of an article interesting.

"That's a very, uh, courageous statement Lauren, why do you think that?"

"Well let's see, Kaylie's a fluke: the second people start expecting stuff from her she chokes, Kelly, well she's just an attention seeker the only reason anyone pays attention to her is because she sucks up to you: you saw for yourselves how she didn't even beat Kaylie at nationals and well Payson, no offence or anything, she might have been good once but she is _not_ the gymnast she once was. Learning a couple of fancy ballet moves does not an Olympic gymnast make." Lauren flicked her blow dried hair over her shoulder and looked at her teammates, then she realised what she'd said and felt angry. And for once she wasn't angry at someone else, she was angry at herself.

Sasha stood up "this interview is over. You will send your draft to me and if it is not to my satisfaction. There will be consequences. Do I make myself clear?" He said menacingly. Sandra nodded silently. "Good, now leave!" As the crew were packing up he looked at his girls, Kelly was sitting in a corner with Kaylie, the national champion was crying and her former rival was comforting her. Lauren looked like a deer in headlights: not knowing where to go and Payson, usually so determined quietly shuffled out of the room. She looked drained and pale, seeing her like that made his heart wrench and he wanted so badly to go after her but he had a bigger problem to deal with.

"Lauren, my office. Now!" He yelled. He knew Lauren had problems with how much attention the other three received. To be fair she'd been the most consistent athlete he'd coached since he'd been at the Rock, she hadn't had any major setbacks and she was solid. However that was all ruled out by her love of drama. The blonde girl walked in, staring at her feet.

"Sasha I am so, so sorry."

Sasha put up his hand to silence her. "I'm not your father and I'm not Summer so unfortunately your poor me voice won't work."

Lauren glared at him and folded her arms. If Sasha was going to yell she sure as hell wasn't going to show she was scared. She was going to go down fighting. Sasha saw the glare in her eyes and realised that yelling wouldn't work. "Take a seat Lauren" he said quietly.

"You're not mad?"

"Just disappointed." He took a deep breath, he needed Lauren to still respect him and feel like she was a valuable part of his team but at the same time realise she couldn't keep going like this. "I realise it has been hard for you, being overshadowed by the other girls. But try to remember the Rock has four girls on the national team: all of whom were in the Worlds team. If you were at any gym in the country you'd be ranked number two at the very least."

"That's true." Lauren said happily.

"So you're going to stop this pity party, you're going to apologise to your teammates and you're going to work harder than you've ever worked before to prove to me that you belong here and I shouldn't fob you off to another gym. I already have three girls who have a good shot at making the Olympics, one more doesn't really make all that much difference. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Sasha."

"Good, and if I catch you trying to sabotage anyone else you will be out. I mean it." He stood up and slammed the door behind him. It was childish but since Lauren had been acting like a six year old he figured she'd understand the gesture perfectly. He went to find Kaylie and Kelly.

Payson sat on one of the trampolines that the beginners normally used, staring into space. She felt so tired and apathetic, and Lauren's words had stung more than she'd expected. She could usually brush off that sort of thing but her comments stuck. She felt the trampoline bend down and saw Max join her. She forced a smile that she knew looked fake: she'd been carefully avoiding him for months and he'd been pining like a puppy. Lauren and Kaylie thought it was cute but to Payson it was a bit pathetic.

"We need to talk Pay." Max said seriously.

Payson nodded, still not looking him in the eye. "I'm sorry I've been weird, it's just there's so much going on."

"Like what?" Max asked.

Payson tried not to roll her eyes "just family stuff." She couldn't be bothered explaining, no one really noticed when she had stuff going on, she tended to bottle things up.

Max winced at the snub, he cared about Payson a lot but he couldn't seem to get her to open up to him.

"Look Max, I'm really sorry. I can't give you my trust, and it's not your fault. I really respect and admire you and I hope we can still be friends. I know it was just a kiss between you and Austin and I know you and Lauren didn't do anything but I guess I expect a lot from my friends." Payson said, refusing to let herself cry. She knew she sounded heartless, but at least she was honest.

Max nodded stoically. "Thanks for being honest. I kind of suspected that would be your answer. We're still friends right?"

Payson kissed him on the cheek and hugged him "always, and Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for waiting; one day you'll find someone who actually deserves you."

Max gripped Payson's hand tightly. "Payson I'm honoured you even considered me, even only briefly. And next time someone amazing comes along I'm not going to screw it up."

"Max-"

Max waved a hand to silence her "and another thing? Don't wait too long to tell him, ok?" Max looked pointedly over to the other side of the gym.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Payson said.

"Of course you don't" Max agreed jovially, and jumped of the trampoline.

Payson sat silently, and then she saw Sasha emerge from the place Max had pointed at. Her heart swooped when she saw him, and Payson cringed to herself. Was she really that obvious or was Max just more perceptive than she gave him credit for? She sighed, she'd tried to suppress her feelings for Sasha and use them only to improve her routines where she felt some emotion would give her some edge. The truth of the matter was, though that she, Payson 'the brick' Keeler was in love with her coach. And not in the schoolgirl crush kind of way, whenever she looked at him, she realised that they were soulmates: he had a determination within himself, he was honest and he was strong and his looks didn't hurt either. But Payson wasn't stupid and she wasn't going to try anything, despite Max's encouragement. He'd been through enough for her and she wasn't going to harm his career any further than she had already.

Then Sasha himself jumped onto the trampoline. "I haven't been on this thing for awhile" he said, trying to keep things light.

"Neither, I really loved doing it when I was little: it's a pity it's a whole other discipline." She wasn't going to bring up the interview if he wasn't.

"So that was quite some display by Miss Tanner back there."

Payson tried to smile "I'm used to it, I've trained with her for six years, and I've handled worse." She thought back to the photo and all the snide comments she'd endured from Ellen and Kelly and the rest of the gymnastics community, she wouldn't be surprised if Lauren had had something to do with that. She quickly admonished herself for thinking such a horrible thought about her friend.

"Payson, something's wrong. You haven't been yourself lately and frankly I'm concerned about you." He said to the strongest, most determined athlete he'd ever coached. She was a few other things too but he refused to let himself follow that train of thought.

"I'm fine."

"You really shouldn't consider acting as a career path because you can't lie. What's wrong?"

"I don't know I guess it's just lots of little things. Mum's missing Dad like crazy, she tries to be strong but sometimes she'll come out of her room and her eyes will be all puffy. Becca's sick of gymnastics and she wants to quit but she's worried she'll be letting our parents down because they've worked so hard for us to stay in the sport but anyone can see it's making her miserable. And then there's Kaylie who looks like she's about to break everyday and as you've just seen, something's wrong with Lauren too." She decided not to mention Max. Despite Kaylie and Austin being the worst kept secret in the gymnastics community, the no dating rule was still in place.

Sasha was silent for a couple of seconds. Everyone at the Rock thought that Payson was just super tough and didn't have feelings. He knew better: she was one of the most caring people in the world and she tried to help everyone, but she didn't ask for help.

Payson continued. "I guess I just feel like I'm everyone's shoulder to lean on but I feel like I'm burning out, and then nationals are close and I'm sponsored now and my family is counting on me. I miss Emily too, she was only here a little while but we were close."

Sasha wanted to beat himself up for not realising that this was the problem earlier. How could he have been so blind? Payson was the girl everyone went to with problems, whether they were about gymnastics or other things. And Emily Kmetko was Payson's best friend, of course she'd be more stressed without her here. He put his arm around Payson, he didn't care how it might look inappropriate.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"There is one thing." She admitted "you're not going to like it and you're going to say no though so I won't ask, yet. But you've already been a huge help Sasha." Payson thought about hugging him but decided against it, instead she ran off to get changed and start working out again, leaving Sasha completely bewildered as to what she was alluding to.

XXX

"Sweetheart, it's time to get up. You've got a big day ahead of you." Kaylie closed her eyes to her mother's voice. Her body ached all over from days of training and it was early in the morning, for years this hadn't bothered her but now she just wanted a day as a normal kid, to be able to sleep in and have a day where she didn't have to exercise if she didn't want to. And most of all she really, really did not want to do the Rock rankings today. The press was going to be there, openly speculating about her and the NGO would be wanting her to post an amazing score. Reluctantly she rolled out of bed, at least her father was going to be coming to watch her today: he hadn't done so for a while.

"How are you feeling Pay?"

"I'm focusing, well I'm trying to anyway."

Becca and Kim rolled their eyes at each other. Some things never changed. "Well don't forget to drink your milk, gymnasts need strong bones."

Now it was Payson's turn to roll her eyes "Mum you've been saying that to me since I was four."

"And that just proves I'm right."

Payson skulled her milk "happy?"

"Delirious. Now hurry we don't want to be late." Payson smiled at how punctual her mother had become these days. Summer must be wearing off on her. Suddenly Kim came around to Payson's side of the table and hugged her tightly.

"Wow Mum, all I did was drink my milk, it's not that big of a feat."

"I am so proud of you. You've come through so much and now I just know you're going to show everyone what a champion you are." Payson looked up and was surprised to find her Mum almost in tears. She was touched and hugged her mother.

"I couldn't have done _any_ of this without you." She said to Kim.

Becca trudged in, her fourteen year old face looking much older due to her makeup she'd put on for competition. "I really hate to ruin the moment but we need to go otherwise we will actually be late."

The silence on the way to the Rock had been almost unbearable, Kelly had spent most of the trip intently focusing on doing up the buns in her hair. Sheila was freezing her out, at first it had been a nice change but now it made Kelly feel lonely. If it weren't for her Rock family she would have gone insane this past week. She didn't know how she'd survived in Denver without supportive teammates. After worlds Kelly had returned home to find a passive aggressive letter from Sheila telling her that she was taking a trip to the south of France and that Kelly should think seriously about her future otherwise there would be more terrible performances to follow worlds. Kelly was so angry that she'd ripped it up. To make things worse she'd found out that Sheila had paid for her trip with Kelly's endorsement money. When she'd returned she'd still been hostile to Kelly, acting as though Kelly had betrayed her for her team.

After what seemed like hours Kelly and Sheila finally arrived at the Rock. Sheila looked over at Kelly "well good luck, I'm sure it's impossible to do worse than you did at worlds, giving up your floor routine for Kaylie. Although I wouldn't put it past you to do it again. You aren't the daughter I raised." She hissed.

Kelly gave Sheila an icy smile "well thank God for that." She said and got out of the car and walked towards Rachel and Petra: two aspiring elites. She hugged them both and wished them luck. She turned around and glared at Sheila who pretended not to see her.

Kim pulled up next to Sheila's huge van and groaned, her least favourite person in the world was back at the Rock. She felt so sorry for Kelly. She didn't know how that woman valued her daughter solely for her gymnastics potential rather than for who she was.

"Ok who made that embarrassing sign?" Becca asked, horrified. "It's awful."

"It's cute" Kim countered, someone was holding a huge sign, that covered his or her face which read 'GO THE KEELERS: BECCA AND PAYSON ALL THE WAY'. Payson of course hadn't paid attention to a single thing her mother and sister were saying: she was visualising her floor routine. She walked calmly towards the entrance of the gym, ignoring the reporters yelling questions and the NGO members in their suits trying to look important. But then she saw the person put the sign to one side, and she saw it was Mark. "Daddy" she yelled, in a happy go lucky voice that so few people outside her immediate family heard. She threw herself into his arms, and he caught her and spun her around like he'd done when she was a little girl. The press photographed it, happy to see a softer side of Payson.

Kaylie looked on as her friend was reunited with her father and smiled. She looked around for Alex but she couldn't see him. Ronnie squeezed her shoulder "don't worry honey he'll be here. He hasn't missed a Rock ranking ever." Her mother tried to sound upbeat but Kaylie wasn't fooled, her father had grown increasingly distant lately. Her brother was here though. She waved to Leo who came over to hug his sister and mother.

"Hey you're both looking good." He hugged Kaylie extra – tightly. He'd felt so guilty about not noticing Kaylie's anorexia, and it put his nose out of joint that Austin Tucker did. He didn't care if Kaylie said he was a changed man, the bad boy of gymnastics was not good enough for his little sister.

"Did you hear from Dad?" Kaylie asked Leo anxiously.

"Oh yes, he texted me earlier to say they'd be a bit late."

"They? Who's he coming with?" Kaylie asked suspiciously while Ronnie looked shocked.

"Huh, oh I meant he. Clearly that higher education isn't paying off." Leo lied smoothly, and tried not to feel guilty as he led Kaylie into the gym, trying to shield her from reporters eager to lap up the drama of the country having another anorexic gymnast.

The last of the rebels to arrive was Lauren. She'd woken up to find her father had already left, Ellen Beals wanted to see him about something. That meant Lauren had had to make her own breakfast and get ready on her own. Steve didn't actually help her with any of this but it was always nice to have someone there when she was preparing for a big meet. As soon as she pulled up into her reserved parking space Steve marched over to her. Lauren paled, he did not look happy.

Steve pulled open the driver's door "get your arse in the gym office now."

"Okay Daddy, just let me double check my lip gloss, you don't want me looking bad for the camera do you."

"Oh you have no idea how ironic that was kid, move now. I mean it."

Lauren rolled her eyes, grabbed her gym bag and followed her father. Ellen Beals was waiting for them in the office

"Take a seat Lauren" the brunette said without looking up from her paperwork.

"Yes Miss Beals?"

"I have to say I'm disappointed, no disgusted with your behaviour Lauren. That video and your attacks on your teammates was uncalled for and tacky. You have given your country a bad name. I don't care what you think about your teammates off the camera, but when you are dealing with the press you do not criticise them, certainly if you have not been told to. Kelly and Payson are dynamite for the image of gymnastics at the moment, and Kaylie is a very good human interest story. I can assure if you do anything detrimental to the image of gymnastics again, I will make your life very difficult." The NGO member stormed out leaving Lauren with her father. She was shocked, Ellen Beals had always seemed to have her back but now she was putting the others above her, just like everyone else.

"Daddy? I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. I guess I was just trying to take your advice and not get too close to my team. You know what competition is like." Lauren pretended to look remorseful but she knew that impliedly blaming her father would work a charm, it always did.

Steve glared at his daughter. "You're an idiot Lauren, do you know how much convincing I had to do to make them not publish that. You're ruining your image and you can't afford to do that."

"Why not I'm one of the best gymnasts in the country."

"Don't you see, you're the weakest link at the Rock. Those other three could wipe the floor with you if you don't up your game. I can't believe I've worked so hard to get you this far and now you're just blowing it." Steve said and walked out.

Lauren tried not to cry. She walked over to the adjoining bathroom and splashed some water on her face to calm herself down. Then she walked down to the line of girls by the vault. As she did so she saw Summer hugging James and to her horror she saw her father standing by Sheila, and he was laughing. Lauren could tell by the look on his face that he had his sleaze on.

"There you are, where have you been? We've been worried you wouldn't show up." Payson said to Lauren, being the concerned leader. A position she naturally fell back into.

"Lo are you ok?" Kaylie asked.

Lauren didn't say anything. She felt numb. Payson just put an arm around her.

"Hey Kaylie, your Dad's here." Kelly said.

Kaylie's face lit up. He had come! Then she saw that he had linked arms with a blonde woman who wouldn't be out of place on the cover of a trashy car magazine. She took a deep breath and looked away, she couldn't think about this now.

Summer handed James to Ronnie who took him somewhat reluctantly. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, our rotations will start with our top group on vault, the second group on bars, the third on beam and the fourth on floor and then we will rotate. This will count as the all around final as well as qualifying for the events. At the conclusion of the events finals we will name our rankings and confirm the girls who will be representing the Rock at St Louis at nationals in a few months time. Please join me in welcoming our gymnasts and wishing them luck as they go into their first rotation."

**A/N – so this was a very long chapter! And it ended on a semi cliff hanger too. Sorry I hope you didn't lose interest, and sorry I didn't completely resolve the Payson issue but I think it's pretty clear now that she's not with Max, and don't you all feel sorry for Kaylie? And yes Steve and Sheila are looking to be more than just friends. Poor Lauren and Kelly, could you think of a worse couple to have as parents. **

**Thank you all for your reviews! And please let me know what you thought, and once again thank you for putting up with such a long chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**So just to recap, this story is still Emily centric, I've just had to centre a few chapters on the Rock but don't worry we'll get back to her soon. Also for those who were wondering, in my universe the Worlds were 2011 so before the Olympics we have the Rock rankings, then nationals then Olympic trials, then finally the Olympics. Also Emily had already qualified for nationals before she got pregnant, just in case you were wondering. **

**And to those of you who were wondering what Payson was going to ask Sasha, all will be revealed. Anyway back to the story.**

**Chapter 11 Invictus**

Steve was enchanted with Kelly Parker's mother. She had the same drive to win that he did. Sure she was slightly intense but it was nice to talk to someone who was his equal in that regard. She was also very well connected. While they were watching their girls they exchanged numbers. Lauren saw them and felt like she'd been slapped. Lauren had long ago accepted that her father saw her mainly as a trophy daughter, but Lauren had always been ok with that because her father had been behind her all the way: just as determined as she was. Because of that she'd been able to overlook the fact he didn't really care about her as a person, but since he'd started dating Lauren realised how lonely she was.

She watched Rachel Jameson, the first in their rotation salute the judges before her vault. She had been ranked sixth last year and Lauren barely acknowledged her existence. She landed a simple vault cleanly and went to hug Ellen, one of the assistant coaches and wave to her parents who were cheering her on enthusiastically. Lauren seriously contemplated kicking something. She spent the next few minutes fuming before Payson nudged her.

"It's your turn Anne Shirley."

"Huh?"

"You looked like you were daydreaming. You're up." Payson rolled her eyes; with Emily gone no one understood her pop culture references anymore.

"Whatever." Lauren was not in the mood to be nice to anyone, not even Payson who was almost impossible to be mean to. She ran up to the springboard preparing herself for her double twisting yurchenko but instead of visualising it all she could see was her father flirting with Sheila and the way he had spoken to her before the competition. Consequently she almost overturned and she only barely landed on her feet, she took a big step backwards and she was way off centre. She went through the motion of saluting the judges but she really couldn't care less.

She watched Payson, the girl she'd always been jealous of, do a flawless double yurchenko. The same vault she had done. It had a much lower degree of difficulty than the Amanar she'd been landing flawlessly but Sasha had wanted to save that little trick for nationals. Lauren scowled again. She had more power than Payson but Sasha hadn't even considered doing and Amanar with her, let alone coach her incessantly to master it. Payson came over to hug Lauren before they moved onto the

XXX

Sasha watched his girls perform nervously. He had the most talented athletes in the country but on days like these he was reminded that they were only teenagers. Something was obviously getting to both Kaylie and Lauren. Lauren had scowled through the entire competition. She was nowhere near a medal in beam and she was lucky to get any ranking at all in the rest of the events. It was a huge drop from the girl who was second behind Kaylie last year. He looked over to Ellen Beals, her face was expressionless as usual but he could tell that she was busy trying to figure out the rankings in her head. Normally a club meet wouldn't mean much but because it was the first non international meet where Kaylie, Kelly and Payson were all competing together since their respective times away, there was a lot of interest.

Finally the rankings were put up on the big screen. Sasha wasn't surprised by the top three but he was gobsmacked at who made up the second string. He looked over at Steve Tanner – his face was deathly pale and he looked like he was about to explode. Sasha smirked, he knew it was juvenile but it always made him happy when that man didn't get what he wanted. He looked over to his girls. Payson and Kaylie seemed happy, Kelly had her fake smile on and Lauren was nowhere to be seen. He knew she would be volatile especially since Kaylie had taken the gold on beam. He remembered what Payson had said about Becca losing her passion for gymnastics. Sure enough the younger Keeler girl didn't look happy with the fact she'd qualified for nationals. She just looked tired. Sasha sighed and went to collect the bouquets he was to hand out. Gym rankings always caused drama, but the Rock bet any other gym he'd ever coached at in that respect.

Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Training Centre

All Around rankings for the 2012 season

1st Payson Keeler (1st FX, 1st UB, 2nd BB, 4th VT)

2nd Kelly Parker (1st VT, 2nd UB, 3rd BB, 2nd FX)

3rd Kaylie Cruz (2nd VT, 3rd UB, 1st BB, 3rd FX)

4th Rachel Jameson (3th VT, 4th UB, 6th BB, 5th FX)

5th Shauna Riley (6th VT, 8th UB, 5th BB, 6th FX)

6th Petra Cochran (7th VT, 6th UB, 7th BB, 4th FX)

7th Lauren Tanner (4th VT, 8th UB, 4th BB, 7th FX)

8th Rebecca Keeler (8th VT, 5th UB, 8th BB, 8th FX)

XXX

"Do you just want to explain what happened out there?" Steve asked Lauren furiously. "I warned you that you were in danger of being overshadowed by the others and instead of picking up your game you come seventh. I have never been so disappointed in you Lauren."

Lauren glared at her father. She was a ball of rage and her no hoper of a father was sure as hell not going to stop her today. "One, screw you and two – Sheila Parker? Really, you sure have a thing for tacky don't you? Maybe if you spent more time actually being a father and encouraging me this wouldn't have happened." She shoved the bouquet Sasha had given her into Steve's hands and stormed off to find Ellen Beals. She had too much competition as it was, she couldn't afford to have Kmetko coming back.

After what seemed like an age Lauren found Ellen Beals. She had just finished speaking to Rachel and Becca who had blown everyone away with their shock performances. Lauren crossed her arms and tapped her foot loudly. Finally the NGO member turned around.

"Oh Lauren, how are you?" She asked falsely before turning again to wave over some other gymnast to get her photo taken for the nationals promo she was compiling. Lauren grabbed Ellen's arm tightly, causing the older woman to grimace.

"We need to talk." Lauren said.

"I'm busy, I have to look after the _successful_ gymnasts." She said.

"You'll want to hear this, trust me."

"All right but this had better be good."

Lauren smiled and led Ellen out into one of the back rooms. "Well this is very Draconian, Lauren. What is so important? I'm a busy woman."

"Oh I'm sure you are. And I'll tell you but first I need to know if you're in the clear, from the photo."

"I am, no thanks to you."

"So you'll be listened to? I want to make sure this news goes to the most influential person, not just to some nobody off to the side."

Ellen glared at the short girl in front of her. Lauren Tanner was only five feet tall but she could manipulate, backstab and just barge her way into whatever she wanted. Ellen would never tell anyone this but she loved Lauren for it. The young gymnast reminded Ellen of herself. She too had been overshadowed by better gymnasts, but she'd used her cunning to get her where she'd wanted to go. Well almost anyway.

"Don't mess with me Lauren, as far as you're concerned I'm the messiah of the NGO, now what did you want to tell me?"

Lauren savoured the words before she spoke them. She knew they were about to send everyone spinning. "Emily Kmetko, didn't just fade into the background and go away. She's making a comeback."

"Don't talk crap Lauren, I thought she had her kid."

"Yes she did." Lauren said through gritted teeth. She knew that better than anyone, she had to put up with seeing that stupid baby around the gym almost every day. "But she gave it up for adoption and Emily is making a comeback. And if she does the image of gymnastics will be ruined. We can't let that sort of girl represent our nation."

"Lauren, I need proof."

Lauren smirked "I thought you'd say that. I've got this I hope it's enough." She handed Ellen Kaylie's phone that she'd 'borrowed' earlier. "I'll need the phone back though." Lauren said.

Ellen didn't answer her: she was too transfixed on the video. Emily had always been good: a rare mix of raw talent and passion, but what had kept her off to top of the podium was her lack of consistency. And this routine, albeit simple had the makings of greatness. If Emily had time she would undoubtedly be named on the national team. She sent the video to her own phone and handed it back to Lauren.

"Well, thank you for bringing that to my attention Lauren. You really are an asset to the sport, you're right gymnastics needs to portray a positive image." She patted the girl awkwardly on the shoulder and turned to leave. She hesitated before opening the door "oh and Lauren? Don't change your routines too much: there might be some unexpected news being announced." Lauren just smiled sweetly in return. Sure the others might have higher degrees of difficulty than her but she had Ellen Beals in her back pocket, and that was worth a lot more.

XXX

Kaylie was happy with third place. A few months ago she would have been horrified at the thought of being comfortable with that but she'd changed. She knew she had done her best without hurting her body: Payson and Kelly weren't recovering from eating disorders and she had won beam, which was definitely a highlight. Alex on the other hand didn't seem as pleased. He wouldn't ever say anything but ever since worlds trials where she'd collapsed, her father seemed slightly disappointed in her. He'd become used to her being a champion and he didn't like the fact that she was vulnerable.

"Not bad Kaylie, that was an impressive beam routine, but if you get your DOD back up again you can beat Payson and Kelly. You've just got to work for it. Besides neither of them has your charm." He pinched her cheek in a fatherly way and Kaylie had to use all of her self control to not push him away.

"So Dad who is your friend?" Kaylie asked addressing the elephant in the room, albeit a skinny elephant in killer heels.

"Honey this is Alice, she's a model turned event planner. She's the most organised person I know. I would love for you to join us for a weekend sometime." Alex said, but Kaylie could tell that he didn't really care either way. She bit back tears: she'd always been Daddy's little girl but ever since Alex had found out about Ronnie and Marty he'd regarded Kaylie in a different light. He still loved her, Kaylie knew that, but it seemed like he had given up on his family. Kaylie suspected that he'd put so much energy into them all that he couldn't face doing it a second time just to be hurt again.

"I'd like that Dad. And it was really nice to meet you Alice, I hope you weren't too bored." Kaylie said politely. Unlike Lauren she didn't feel the need to attack a potential future step parent. Being catty wasn't her style, but neither was becoming BFF with some woman who was distracting her father from her. She smiled and walked over to Lauren who was waving madly at her.

"What? You look like you've won the lottery or something." Kaylie said, surprised that Lauren was so happy after such a disastrous meet.

"Well I finally told Ellen Beals that Emily is coming back and she's going to fix everything."

Kaylie was silent, she looked into Lauren's eyes and saw that the girl wasn't even slightly guilty. "Fix everything? What exactly do you mean by that?" She said quietly and angrily.

Lauren was a bit taken aback. She would have thought Kaylie would have liked her competition to be eliminated. "Duh Kaylie we won't have to worry about her beating us, it will bring us closer to the Olympics."

Kaylie wasn't a violent person but she seriously considered slapping Lauren, instead she just dug her nails into the palms of her hands to clam herself down. "Does the fact that Emily is our friend and former teammate mean anything to you?"

Lauren squirmed, she knew people thought she was a bitch but Kaylie seemed completely oblivious to the fact that she was helping both of them. "Kaylie – _we_ are best friends and teammates: Emily was just an intruder. She doesn't matter."

"Lauren can I ask you something?"

"Uh sure"

"Did you send the photo of Payson and Sasha to Ellen? Because if you did, I will never talk to you again." Kaylie could not believe Lauren. Kaylie valued her teammates above everything except her family and Austin and she certainly valued them above herself. She didn't know how Lauren could be so selfish.

Lauren forced herself to keep a straight face. "Of course not, I cannot believe you think I would do something that horrible. Payson is my friend."

"And so apparently was Emily" Kaylie said before turning her back on Lauren. She really couldn't be bothered with her anymore.

XXX

"Summer have you seen my girls?" Kim asked her co-manager who was cuddling her son in the managers' office looking happier than she'd ever seen her.

"I think Becca went outside and Payson followed her." Summer said, she was about to tell Kim how she thought Becca was losing interest in gymnastics but thought the better of it. If Becca wanted to say anything, that was her job. Since she'd become a parent Summer was beginning to realise how annoying she'd been by interfering with the girls.

"Thanks Summer" Kim went out the side entrance – the main one was flooded with people, Kelly of course was playing the media like a pro. Kim wouldn't be surprised if her girls had fled outside to avoid all the hype. She hoped Becca was ok about being in the spotlight: her youngest was confident but the media could be daunting, especially if you were only fourteen and used to being in the shadow of your older sister. Kim made her way around the back where there were a couple of old oak trees. She saw Payson at the food of the tree with her arms around Becca who seemed to be crying. That shocked Kim, she thought she was quite an astute person and she hadn't noticed Becca being miserable, sure she was a bit quieter than usual but she'd assumed that she'd just been focusing. Quietly and cautiously she approached her girls.

"Becca, honey what's wrong?" Up close she saw that Becca wasn't just crying slightly. These were full blown tears. Kim hadn't seen Becca cry like that in a long time, she was a pretty happy kid.

Becca didn't want her Mum to know what was going on, she had enough on her plate as it was so she wiped her eyes and smiled "it's nothing Mum, I'm just a bit overwhelmed by the result that's all. I'm going to go find Dad, he promised me an icecream after this." She walked off quickly before Kim could even stand.

"Becca! Wait" Kim called, she turned to Payson "ok she was lying, what is really wrong? Becca hasn't been that upset in a long time."

Payson sat quietly for awhile and Kim didn't push her, she knew her daughter was weighing up what she should say. Finally her eldest spoke "I don't want to feel like I'm betraying her but I'm going to tell you because she's my sister and I want her to be happy."

Kim gripped Payson's hand "honey please just tell me, I'm worrying myself sick here."

"Well, Becca's sick of gymnastics. She's been working hard but she's not passionate about it and it's not fun for her anymore. And since Eilish and Maria left she's been lonely, she wants to cut back her hours and go to school. But she didn't want to tell either of you because of all you've sacrificed for our sport. And I guess today's results just made things boil over. She's now a serious contender for nationals, especially on bars and all she wants to do is be a normal girl." Payson finished and looked at Kim as if pleading her not to be mad.

"I can't believe her! Does she honestly think your father and I would be angry if she wanted to give up gymnastics? All your Dad and I have ever wanted is for both of you to be happy and healthy, that's a thousand times more important than you being good gymnasts."

Those words, for some reason brought tears to Payson's eyes. She hugged Kim tightly "I love you so much for saying that."

XXX

Darby stared at her computer screen. The email had to be a prank, if it wasn't then Emily's dream had just been ruined.

_Dear Coaches_

_We are writing to inform you that the 2012 National Championships have been moved forward to the 13__th__ of March due to sponsorship requirements. We apologise for any inconvenience. If you wish to inquire further about this please contact us. We look forward to seeing you at the Championships_.

Darby wasn't a violent person but she wanted to punch the screen. That was in six weeks, nationals: Emily's only shot of making the national team; there was no way she would be petitioned in later – not after all the bad publicity from her conviction. But in six weeks Emily wouldn't make the national team. She was about to call her friends to see what was going on when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Darby. Good I caught you, just thought I'd tell you that your pathetic plan has failed. I don't know what you see in Emily Kmetko and now no one else will either. There's no way she'll be ready in time."

"Ellen – piss off. You really need to get a hobby, changing nationals, really? Are you that threatened of her?"

"Of course not, but the image of our sport needs to be protected."

"Screw the image, what about determination and sacrifice. If you only knew how hard Emily worked, you wouldn't be doing this."

"I've coached her too Darby and I know a failure when I see one." Ellen said abruptly before hanging up. Darby swore, she hated that woman so much. If only there was some way to get rid of her.

"Who was that on the phone?" Emily asked, she knew her coach well by now and she could tell that Darby, usually so sunny and smiley was rattled.

Darby didn't say anything, instead she printed out the email and handed it to Emily. Emily took it and read it, and then reread it because she couldn't believe what she was reading. "What do we do Darby?" She asked in a small voice, hoping that there was some way around this.

XXX

When Sasha had announced the date change in nationals most of the Rock girls had started to panic about their routines but all Payson could think of was Emily. Her bars routine had been good, but it wasn't great and Emily had to be great to be in with a shot, she had to prove that she was a whole new gymnast. And she was not going to be able to do that in six weeks, not with Darby anyway. She was trying to think of what to do when Kaylie joined her at the chalk bucket. "We need to help Emily."

"I know, I've been wracking my brains and I can't think of any way we can get nationals moved back to the original date."

Kaylie rolled her eyes "I have a better idea, why don't we convince Em to come back here, she'll have us to motivate her, Sasha to train her and besides she'll be around James and that will just motivate her more."

Payson's face broke into a huge smile. One that Kaylie hadn't seen on her in a long time. "Want to come convince Sasha with me?"

Kaylie smiled "I think it will be best if you talk to him alone, play on the whole we came to get you from Romania and we let you back when you gave up on us, so you should give Emily a second chance."

"Ok, wish me luck" the blonde gymnast said. She walked over to Sasha who was supervising the level sevens. He looked like he wanted to bang his head against the wall. "Straight arms ladies I mean it."

Payson tentatively tapped him on the shoulder, Sasha turned around irritated, but his expression softened when he saw it was Payson.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course" Sasha said, motioning for one of the assistant coaches to take over. He followed Payson to the empty locker room. "What's up?"

"You know how I said earlier that there was something I wanted to ask you, but I wasn't ready yet?"

"Ye-e-es" Sasha said nervously.

"Well it's time to ask it, and it's a big favour, and before you say no I want you to remember that you'd be doing it for me." Payson wasn't sure why she added that last bit on the end but it made Sasha perk up so she figured it worked.

"Anything Payson, within reason of course."

"I want you to invite Emily Kmetko back to train at the Rock."

**A/N – so Ellen is back, don't worry her time will come when the whole world will really see what she's like. And next chapter we will be back with Emily and Damon a bit more. Please let me know what you thought =)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry about the wait! This chapter is dedicated to the lovely **_**Elsie, JeremyShane and SunStar123**_** who all keep reviewing almost every chapter. Thank you so much! Reviews really keep me going.**

**Chapter 12: Take me home**

Kaylie was wondering what was taking Payson so long: Sasha wasn't one for big speeches she thought he'd give his decision either way pretty quickly. After what seemed like forever Payson emerged from the locker room beaming. She looked even happier than she had when she'd won gold on bars at worlds, and she certainly looked happier than she had these past couple of weeks. Sasha came out slightly after her, looking completely dazed.

Payson hugged Kaylie, taking her completely by surprise. "Wow Payson! You're happy I'm guessing he said yes."

"He did."

"Ok you're creeping me out here. What happened back there?"

"I'm just happy Emily's coming back." Payson said serenely and Kaylie just smiled knowingly. There was something else but Payson wasn't going to talk and that was fine. She was just glad to see Payson back to normal. Sasha walked over to them.

"My office ladies and bring Kelly and Lauren too." Kaylie went to get the other two elite girls and the joined Sasha in his office. When they entered Sasha closed and locked the door and pulled the blind.

"You trying to surreptitiously murder us Sasha?" Kelly asked jokingly. She and Sasha hadn't started out on the right foot but they were getting along much better now. Sasha liked Kelly's work ethic and simple personality. She had issues of course but she had both feet on the ground and knew where she wanted to go and was sure of herself. He also enjoyed her dry sense of humour.

"I highly doubt I'd be able to take one of you let alone all four. Especially with your new double Arabian dismount Lauren." His rare praise made Lauren smile. "What I am going to tell you is strictly confidential. You are to tell no one, and if you do then you will be out of the gym. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes Sasha" the four girls said quietly and obediently.

"Thanks to some words of wisdom from someone wise beyond her years" his eyes met Payson's: they were full of an emotion Kaylie didn't recognise "I have decided to invite Emily Kmetko back to the Rock. She will train here at night in secret and during the day in a separate destination. I expect all of you to support me in this decision and to support Emily. I am going to be travelling over to LA in two days to make the offer to her and I thought I would give any of you who wanted to come the opportunity to join me."

"I'm there." Payson said.

"Me too. She deserves a shot at nationals and she needs us to help her." Kaylie added.

Kelly looked at her teammates "I would like to come too, I don't know her well and I'd never admit it, but I admired her. Is that ok?"

Kaylie smiled and wrapped her arm around Kelly's shoulder. Lauren shoved the blind up, ripped the door open and slammed it behind her. There was a stunned silence for a while where everyone was deciding how to react then 3 sets of eyes all looked at Payson expectantly. Payson frowned then realised that there was no point in arguing.

"Fine I'll talk to her but you all owe me."

"Ta Keeler, we all know Barbie wouldn't listen to me anyway, and she explodes with jealousy whenever she comes within three feet of Kaylie." Kelly said flippantly. Growing up under Sheila's roof had made her immune to all but the worst drama so she was amused rather than angry at Lauren's behaviour.

Payson rolled her eyes and went to follow Lauren.

Lauren was sitting on the bench on the lawn in front of the gym. Sasha had dubbed it the meltdown bench because it was the place everyone seemed to go when they stormed out of practice. It was certainly living up to its name today. Lauren was sitting there; legs crossed pulling apart a handful of grass she'd pulled out of the ground. Payson came and sat beside her.

"That was an impressive slam; I'm surprise you pulled it off. I'd be worried I would screw it up and trip over or the door catch in my hair or something." Payson said, ignoring the tears that were rolling down Lauren's cheeks.

"Why are you being nice to me?" Lauren said dully.

Payson pulled Lauren into a hug and Lauren started crying in earnest, big sobs that made her whole body shake. "I know I'm a bitch Payson but it's just that I'm lonely, all the goddam time. Daddy's never home and I feel like the only way I can get him to notice me is if I pull out amazing routines but all of you are better than me and no matter how hard I try I can't seem to get anywhere and I know it's petty to not want Emily back but if she makes it back she'll beat me too."

Payson was silent for awhile. Lauren made her want to scream most of the time but then she tried to remember that the bitchy part of Lauren's personality was like her guard. She didn't let anyone in so that she wouldn't be made vulnerable. But for some reason she was letting Payson in and that made Payson happy.

"Lauren, you are an amazing gymnast. You're powerful, you have personality when you want to show it and you're determined. Were you at worlds? Do you not remember getting a team gold and silver on the beam? Who cares what your father thinks, or what anyone else thinks. You, Lauren Tanner are amazing and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Lauren cried even harder, not for herself this time but for what she did to Payson: she had to tell her about the video. "Pay, there's something I have to tell you."

"Of course you can tell me anything." Payson said, confused.

"I-I" Lauren faltered, this was a perfect moment. She couldn't ruin it, she couldn't hurt Payson more than she already had. "I'm so glad you're back at the Rock and you deserved to win at the rankings."

Payson beamed, that was possibly the highest praise a Tanner could give. "That means a lot, coming from you Lauren. Now can you do me a favour? Come to LA with us. I know Emily isn't your favourite person but she's your teammate, and to be honest it's not even like she's a threat to you, you're all power and she's all artistry. Kaylie and I are the ones who have to be worried."

Lauren nodded. "Ok I'll come. I haven't seen Darby in ages anyway."

XXX

"Again." Darby said quietly, almost angrily. Ever since nationals had been moved she'd been increasing Emily's training to three times a day, six days a week. She was working Emily has hard as she could without risking an injury. Not that it was likely with Emily, she was so instinctive with her gymnastics that she hardly ever under rotated or made an error of judgment.

Emily sighed. The news that nationals had been moved forward had shocked her completely. Her confidence had been rocked, ever since finding out she was pregnant she had tried her hardest to turn her mental mindset around and become determined and focused. She had believed in herself completely but now...she lost her train of thought while she was doing a summersault on the beam, her left foot missed the beam altogether and she fell on her butt, hard.

Darby came over to her and pulled her up. "I'm not usually one to yell at my gymnasts and certainly not at you because you work so hard but what the hell was that? That was sloppy and lazy and totally uncharacteristic of you Emily."

Emily stared at the ground, angry at herself for letting Darby down. Her coach had sacrificed so much to get her this far, she'd rented out her house in Boulder and left a whole life behind to work with her. "I'm sorry Darby but with nationals being moved forward I just don't feel like I can make it. Could we at least leave out beam? Three apparatus should still be enough right?"

Darby was shocked for a second, then burst out laughing. "Oh Em, you're so naive. No offence but the NGO hates your guts as it is and you're going to have to impress the hell out of them to even make a shot at the national team let alone the Olympic team. And to do that you're going to have to go all around. And you're going to have to go all around well. And I don't want to hear another word about you not believing in yourself. I've put in far too much work for you to flake out now."

Emily nodded, and tried to force herself out of her mental rut. She mounted the beam. Her centre of gravity was different to what it was before James, it was lower and it took a lot of getting used to, especially on the beam which pretty much had always been the bane of her existence. She made her way through her routine without falling off but she knew she was overtime but a long way.

Darby sighed, Emily needed to be giving more but she couldn't think of what else could motivate her to do that.

XXX

Sasha had a headache. A long car ride with three seventeen year olds and an eighteen year old girl was nobody's idea of a good time. Especially if two of them were intent on teasing him the entire way. Kaylie and Kelly wanted to know _everything_ about his life, particularly his love life during his period of being the bad boy of gymnastics. Kelly did not give up asking about who his first kiss was, where it happened and who was his first crush. It was so draining that he would almost have preferred to be filling out paper work listening to Steve Tanner lament the fact his daughter did not do as well as he liked, almost. He was also acutely aware that Payson had been listening intently to the conversation, despite pretending to be absorbed in her book.

He sat at the bar and took a deep sip of his scotch. The girls had gone to bed and he was trying to think of what to say to Darby in the morning. He knew she would be harder to convince than Emily but he was not going to go behind the back of another coach. That was tacky, something Ellen Beals might do but never him. Still he had nothing in common with Darby. She was only a couple of years his junior but she acted much younger. And she had done a fantastic job with Emily and was not going to want to give that up. But Emily needed to be at the Rock if she was going to have any hope at all of making the national team, he hoped Darby would be able to see that.

The next morning Sasha explained the plan to the girls. He was going to talk to Darby one on one first, and it turned out that Lauren was going to make herself useful for once. She was going to be the ploy to bring Darby to the hotel. Kelly, Kaylie and Payson all went back up to their rooms while Lauren and Sasha waited in the Lobby. Lauren stood in the middle while Sasha sat towards the other end of the lobby hiding his face with a newspaper.

After a while Darby emerged, looking peppy as usual wearing oversized sunglasses and a 60s style summer dress. She looked more like a carefree highschool senior than a former Olympian and tough gymnastics coach. She saw Lauren waiting for her and beamed.

"Lo! How are you babes?" She said, embracing the younger girl and kissing her on both cheeks, Sasha resisted the urge to vomit.

"So good, Darbs. I love your nails." Lauren said without looking at Darby's hands.

"So why are you in LA?"

Lauren paused, feeling slightly guilty that she was tricking Darby. "Actually, I came with someone who wants to see you."

Darby raised one eyebrow. "Who exactly is this mystery person?"

Sasha decided to spare Lauren any more discomfort. He put his newspaper away and walked over to Darby. "I'm Sasha Belov. We met briefly in Hungary." Sasha said it as though they had met in passing rather than him yelling at her for her poor coaching of his gymnasts. "I wondered if we might have lunch. I have something important to discuss with you."

Darby glared at him, she knew this must be about Emily, she knew Payson and Kaylie knew about her returning to gymnastics. He instinct was to laugh in his face and say that he had had his chance with Emily and to get lost. But Darby wanted Emily to do well and if Belov had found a way to help her then it wasn't Darby's place to turn him away.

"I'd be delighted, your shout?"

Sasha rolled his eyes, "of course." He motioned for her to lead the way to the hotel's restaurant. Lauren made to follow them but Sasha turned around. "Don't even think about it." He said to her, Lauren grinned ruefully and made her way up to the elevators.

Darby waited for Sasha to talk, she wasn't going to provoke him. Finally Sasha gave in. He placed his utensils down and cleared his throat. "I recently saw a video of Emily Kmetko performing a new uneven bars routine. I was informed that she had accomplished this after giving birth just months before. I was impressed, she seemed a different athlete than the one I had coached. You have done well with her Darby."

"Yes I have, and I'm going to continue doing well. She is going to make the national team, and then the Olympic team." Darby said defiantly. She was secretly quite scared of Sasha but there was no way she was going to show it.

"No she won't."

"Excuse me? Didn't you just say the bars routine was amazing? That kid is going to the Olympics."

"Maybe, if nationals hadn't been moved but she won't be ready in time."

"She will!" Darby said, although she didn't believe it.

"Oh come on Darby, you know that at the rate she is progressing she won't be good enough. Sure she'd probably get a spot if she hadn't pissed of the NGO so many times but now she has got to be one of the best to even be considered."

Darby sighed "you're right, but what the heck are you going to do about this. What do you have over me that's going to get her there? It sure as hell isn't good reps from the NGO."

"I'm close to her son and I have four girls who competed at worlds. If those two things can't motivate her, nothing will."

Darby folded her arms. "She can train at the Rock."

Sasha punched the air, he hadn't been expecting things to be this easy.

"But I'm still going to help coach her."

Sasha frowned. "I'm not sure that's going to work, I usually exclusively coach my elites."

"Well Emily is different, my coaching style suits her more. Also, you will take me on as one of your assistant coaches. I'll train Emily during the day, in a different location so that we can avoid all the messy publicity that would occur since the NGO is always around. And then you'll train her at night. Also I get the final say in her routines, her health and any aspects of her lifestyle outside the gym."

Sasha glared at Darby, a glare that would send most people away crying but Darby met his eye steadily. A lot had changed since her humiliation at the Rock and she wasn't about to just give her best gymnast away. Sasha sighed "fine, but I expect you as my assistant to follow my lead, you will not go easy on my gymnasts, and you will not coach any of my other elites unless they ask you to and you check it with me, understood?"

Darby stood up and walked over to Sasha "yes boss" she shook his hand jokingly, Sasha grinned. Darby was going to be as much of a handful as his gymnasts.

"Now we just need to check it over with Emily. Do you think she'll want to come back?"

Darby paused "well she knows that her chance with nationals being moved so close is slim to none and once we explain that moving back to the Rock is her best chance, I think she'll come. It also depends on what Damon wants to do. They've got a house now that they've just finished doing up and they're quite attached to it so we'll have to see what he wants as well."

Sasha curled his hands into fists "she's living with the piece of crap that knocked her up? How could you let this happen, don't you even think to learn from her getting pregnant in the first place, this will only end badly."

It was Darby's turn to glare at Sasha "I get the final say in her lifestyle remember? Otherwise this agreement is off. I trust both Emily and Damon. And your opinion doesn't matter."

Sasha sighed "fine." He said through gritted teeth.

"Good, I'm glad we agree." Darby said sweetly, now you said you'd shout me lunch and I want another coffee. Sasha rolled his eyes for what felt like the 20th time half an hour and walked over to the counter.

**A/N another filler chapter, but don't worry things are going to get exciting soon. Next time we're checking in with Damon and Emily and whether they want to move, everyone realises how evil Lauren is and Payson finally finds out the video. **

**Also if you want to know what really happened between Payson and Sasha in the locker room when she was convincing him to invite Emily back, read my outtake **_**The Locker Room**_**. It's set between chapters 11 and 12.**

**Please let me know what you thought, I have to say I feel so lucky to have had so many reviews because I didn't think that many people still liked Emily after the end of season two so thank you all for reading =)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 Rock bottom**

36 days, 864 hours, 51840 minutes: no matter how Emily phrased it there wasn't enough time before nationals. She looked in the mirror. Since becoming pregnant she'd become more determined and sure of herself. She hadn't let doubt enter her mind, partly because she couldn't afford to. If she was going to make the comeback of the century she needed to believe in herself. But ever since nationals had been moved forward she had lost her confidence again, she felt like she had at the Rock. Because, although coming back after giving birth was improbable, doing it in less than six weeks was _impossible_. And no matter what Darby said – the sort of training they were doing now was not going to get her where she wanted to be.

Damon joined Emily in the bathroom to brush his teeth and Emily forced a smile. Damon looked at her, his eyes full of concern. "Are you going to be okay? Do you want me to stay with you and Darby during training today?" He said quietly. They way Emily had reacted when nationals had been moved terrified him, she was like a shell of the girl he fell in love with.

Emily smiled at him again, this time genuinely: she couldn't believe how lucky she was with Damon. He would do anything for her. "No, go: if you miss another recording session your manager will probably have a hernia."

"And you say that like it's a bad thing."

Emily kissed him "go, I'll be fine. I'm starting vault today and I'd prefer it if you didn't see it until it was at least halfway decent." Emily had lost a lot of power since having James and inevitably that meant her double twisting yurchenko was history.

Damon kissed her on the forehead then on the lips, then picked up his satchel and left. Emily somehow managed to get herself ready, although she felt overwhelmed and terrified about what was going to happen in the next few weeks.

When she got to the gym she saw Darby standing there looking anxious. Emily couldn't remember the last time her coach had looked nervous, this wasn't good.

"You ok Darby?" Emily said, a few weeks ago Emily would have teased her but she seemed to be more lethargic these days.

"Don't hate me Emily but-"

"That's a good opening."

"Emily please, this is important" Darby snapped uncharacteristically and Emily held up her hands in mock surrender, making Darby smile slightly "Sasha Belov came to see me yesterday. He wants to talk to you, I have already spoken with him and I would appreciate if you heard what he has to say. I know it will probably bring up a lot of baggage but it's for the best."

Emily suddenly felt very angry. She had always admired Sasha but hearing his name again made her realise the truth in Darby's words. There was a lot Emily wanted to discuss with Sasha surrounding him leaving the Rock and then the way he was so distant when she got pregnant, and most of all she realised how empty her life seemed without the Rock. "I'll see him" Emily said.

Darby hugged her "good answer" she led Emily into her car and they went to a fairly nice looking hotel. Emily felt apprehensive, she was only wearing sweatpants and a hoodie over her leotard, and the receptionist looked at her and Darby with distain as Darby told her they were waiting for Sasha Belov. She motioned them ungratefully to two seats in the corner, far away from where the public could see them. After a while Sasha came out of the lift. He was also casually dressed which made Emily relax a bit. His face broke into a smile when he saw them, Emily only managed a sort of grimace and a slight wave, this was weird.

"Emily, it's so good to see you." He looked like he was about to hug her but he saw Emily's face and put his hands back in his pockets and shot Darby a nervous glance as if to ask her what she'd said to Emily to make his former gymnast look at him like that but Darby just shrugged.

"Would you mind if we had lunch? I have something I want to discuss with you."

"I guess" Emily shot Darby an anxious look.

"Sorry Em, you're on your own this time. I'm going to hang out with Lauren for a bit."

"Lauren's here?" Emily asked apprehensively but then brightened "does that mean Pay and Kaylie are here too?"

Sasha nodded "They want to see you too, but I would like to talk to you alone first, if that is alright with you?"

Emily nodded "ok Sasha. I kind of want to talk to you too."

Unsurprisingly Sasha had made all the waitresses in the hotel restaurant fall madly in love with him. Even less surprisingly: Sasha was completely oblivious to this, he just thought they were being nice seating him at the best table and being overly attentive.

"What was it you want to ask me?" Emily said over her salad.

"You talk first Emily, I owe you that much at least." When he said that sentence Sasha seemed downtrodden, a bit like he had when he had first returned from Romania.

"Thank you, I guess part of me is angry at you for leaving and then not telling me what I wanted to hear when I got pregnant with James, but I guess you were doing your job as a coach and to be fair I could be a bit of a brat."

Sasha took a deep breath. He was amazed at how Emily was taking responsibility for her actions and her attitude. Darby was a better coach than he gave her credit for.

"Emily _I_ am sorry, I should have been more sympathetic to you when you became pregnant. I also shouldn't have left like I did and I want you to know that I appreciate you coming to Romania and risking so much for me. That sort of loyalty and forgiveness should not be easily forgotten and yet I failed to extend the same grace to you when you became pregnant. All I can say is that I wanted the best for you, Emily. I wanted you to succeed and beat the odds and the fact that you had done something that made that impossible...I just couldn't forgive myself so I shut you out."

Emily reached over and gripped his arm, Sasha looked like he was about to cry and Emily really did not want to see him cry "Sasha, I completely understand, as I said I was a kid with too much talent and too much attitude and not enough discipline. None of what happened is your fault."

Sasha smiled at the seventeen year old before him who was speaking wisdom beyond her years. "Emily, I admit your attitude was your Achilles heel but you have to remember that you were only coached professionally for a fraction of the time the other girls were. They sucked it up and got on with it because they had that sort of attitude forced onto them from the time they were about three. You had to learn that at a much later stage and I should have taken that into account more."

Emily smiled at Sasha it was the first time the two of them had spoken properly since before he left for Romania after worlds trials and she was glad they could clear the air. When someone was your coach and you were an elite gymnast you had a bond with them that most people couldn't understand.

"So what did you come to LA about?" Emily asked, she figured Sasha maybe wanted a competition or something, although as she was Emily would probably struggle to beat his level 8s and 9s in the all-around let alone the elite girls.

"I am inviting you and Darby to come back to Boulder; you'll train with Darby during the day and at the Rock at night. Darby and I have agreed that she gets the final say in your routines and also in your lifestyle."

Sasha and Darby had been discussing how to handle her. Before the thought that other people were controlling her life and making decisions about her would have pissed Emily off no end but now she understood that sometimes your life wasn't entirely your own. And one of those sometimes was elite gymnastics. She weighed up her options, if she was honest with herself she would love to come back to Boulder, she missed her family and her Rock friends and she wanted to be near James, he was almost seven months old and he'd be walking soon. On the other hand it would mean either leaving Damon or expecting him to drop everything and follow her.

Sasha watched Emily patiently. She was one of the quieter girls he coached and she internalised her emotions. She would speak when she was ready.

"I don't think I'm ready for nationals Sasha and that scares me."

Sasha was expecting this; Emily's biggest weakness was doubting herself. "I think you will need to work harder than you've ever worked, I won't lie to you about that."

"But you think I can do well at nationals and make the national team?"

"Yes" Sasha said calmly and with certainty, although he was all but certain: he hadn't seen enough of Emily's new routines.

"But I have to be at the Rock to do it don't I?"

Sasha paused "I think that is your best chance, yes."

"And Darby agrees?"

"She does."

Emily nodded, appreciating how succinct and honest Sasha was being "honestly I would love to be back in Boulder but I need to discuss this with Damon. He gets factored into my decisions now."

"I know, and if Darby is ok with that then so am I." Sasha said through gritted teeth. He had been a 20 year old male before and they were exactly the sort of people he did not want his elite girls associating with.

XXX

Damon came home to find Emily absorbed in a copy of Wuthering Heights. She was rereading it to see if it was too ambitious a book to make Larissa read, well that was her excuse anyway. It amazed Damon that someone who was so active and had made it her life's ambition to be a gymnast also found passion in sitting still and reading for hours at a time. She was so absorbed in her book that she didn't hear him come in. He came behind her and hugged her, making her jump.

"Hey mustang."

"Damon, you really need to find a new nickname for me."

"It suits you" the musician said simply. "How was your day, ace that vault?"

"Not exactly" Emily put her book down and motioned for Damon to sit "Sasha came to see me today. He's invited me back to the Rock."

Damon stared at Emily waiting for her to continue. "I'd still be training with Darby most of the time but I'd have Sasha to help and I'd be around my old teammates."

"Do you want to go?"

"Damon, it doesn't matter what I want, I'll only go if you're happy about this. I don't want you to have to rearrange your life again just for me. I couldn't do that to you, and what about this house? You bought it and we've only just finished doing it up."

Damon took Emily's hands in his own. They were calloused, the nails bitten to the quick from the stress of her training and ridiculously thin from her diet restrictions. There was no way in hell Damon was going to let all that hard work go to waste. Sure he had thrown his time and energy into the house, especially when he was home alone when Emily was training late but it was just a building, not a dream and Damon knew better than anyone how important dreams were.

"Screw the house, I can easily find a studio in Boulder and if you want to move back to Boulder then I am doing everything I can to make that move easier for you."

Emily didn't have words to respond to that so she just kissed him. When they finally came up for air Emily said "and we get to see James."

Damon grinned. There wasn't a day that went by where he didn't miss his son. James and Emily were the two things that kept him going when things felt too hard.

XXX

"Lo how do you manage to have more stuff than me?" Emily asked incredulously. Emily had packed most of the stuff she thought she'd need in Boulder before Damon brought the rest over, it fit into two suitcases: Lauren had three.

"Duh Em I had to look my best to impress you." Lauren was being extra nice to Emily just to piss Kelly off.

"How very the L word" Payson deadpanned "should we leave the two of you alone?"

"We may as well since Lauren obviously isn't going to find love anywhere else. Her first crush fell for Kaylie, her second for Payson maybe it's time you gave up on guys altogether Lo." Kelly said snidely.

Kaylie rolled her eyes "you sure you want to come back Em? These two have some banter to rival Serena and Blair."

Emily laughed "trust you to like Gossip Girl. To be honest I've missed you all so much. I didn't realise it but it feels great, I even missed you Lo."

"I kind of missed you too." Lauren said reluctantly. She wasn't one for charity cases but at least Emily was less annoying than Kelly. "Now it will be back to our old group of four again." She said with a mean glance in Kelly's direction.

Before Kelly could answer Sasha and Darby walked in "what's taking you girls so long?" Sasha asked angrily.

"We were just catching up. It's been a while since we've all been together." The other girls stared in wonder at how Payson could be so calm towards Sasha when he was that angry and they were even more surprised when he relaxed.

"Fair enough, I think it's fair to say we've all missed you Emily."

Emily tried to smile but to her surprise she found that there were tears in her eyes. Kaylie, ever attentive to other people's feelings put an arm around Emily "what's wrong Em?"

Emily wiped her eyes "nothing it's just that you are all being so nice and you all believe in me but I just don't know if I can do it. Even if I make a splash at nationals I'm still not exactly their favourite person."

Darby hugged Emily "it's going to be ok Em. When I got pregnant and came back I got on the national team. Everyone was a bit annoyed about how I had taken time of and then come back but no one knew I had been pregnant. And Ellen Beals only found out about it after I had made the national team. And by then it was too late." Darby decided it was best not to bring up what had to be done to keep Ellen quiet. She really didn't want to have to resort to that unless they had to.

Emily smiled "good, and I guess they sort of forgave me for my arrest. And with you guys with me I can do it." It sounded cheesy even to Emily's ears but she needed to say it out loud.

"Oh God, I'm such an idiot." Lauren muttered.

Sasha's eyes narrowed dangerously, he crossed his arms over his chest and said in a menacing whisper: "and why is that Lauren?"

"Nothing" the blond girl said, she didn't dare look at Sasha, instead she looked at her shoes.

"Remember our agreement Miss Tanner." He spat out her last name like an insult.

Lauren didn't look up, she couldn't bear to see the disappointment on the faces of her friends "I told Ellen Beals about Emily's pregnancy and that she was making a comeback. After I told her, she moved nationals forward. I'm so sorry Emily." Lauren's voice sounded scratchy as if she was about to cry.

Emily squared her shoulders and marched out of the hotel room, but she wasn't fooling anyone. She looked like she was about to fall apart. Payson, as she had had to do so often recently went to comfort her teammate.

Sasha's face was even paler than usual. Kaylie and Kelly looked stunned; they ignored Lauren's sobbing and looked at their coach, waiting for him to tell them what to do. Darby looked livid. "Darby, would you mind taking Kaylie and Kelly out to check up on Emily, she needs her friends and her coach at the moment and I need a moment alone with my gymnast."

XXX

Emily felt like her everything was closing in on her and she had nowhere to turn, so she ran to the hotel's gym and jumped on a bike, she turned up the resistance as high as it could go and pedalled as hard as she could but she still couldn't push the hurt from her mind. Now she understood what the word betrayal meant. She knew Lauren was a screwed up kid but she didn't think that extended much beyond petty things like staining her new leotard, or trying to get other people's boyfriends. She never thought that she would stoop so far as to completely ruin her career.

Emily was so tied up in her own thoughts that she didn't realise that Payson had entered the gym and taken the bike next to hers. It was so like Payson not to jump in with meaningless platitudes and false hope. She knew that Emily would talk when she wanted to, so instead she simply kept her company letting Emily know that she was there if Emily needed her. Emily smiled at the blonde girl who smiled back.

Darby and the girls found Emily and Payson on the exercycles, they sat waiting for them to finish up. Finally they climbed off. Emily's legs felt like jelly and she was dizzy. She stumbled but Darby caught her and led her over to the mat.

"So that was some news." Darby said and winced at how lame she sounded.

Emily looked at her coach "what happens now?" she left unsaid the demand that Darby give her an honest answer and not to sugar coat anything, but Darby knew Emily well enough to know it was implied.

Darby took a deep breath "the bad news is that your life just got a whole lot harder. If Ellen Beals knows something, chances are she's told at least some of the other NGO members about your pregnancy. But the good news is that if people know the date of nationals was moved out of spite, it might be possible to get it changed back."

Emily perked up "really?"

"Maybe, but right now I need your total commitment. You will have to work harder than you have ever worked before, both physically and mentally. I mean it Emily; there can be no room for self doubt. I need you to believe in yourself completely."

Emily nodded "I can do that."

Darby smiled "I know: if I didn't think you could make it I would have told you and that's the truth. I don't lead my gymnasts into false hope. And it's going to be harder for you girls as well" Darby said to Payson Kelly and Kaylie "associating with Emily will make you less popular with the NGO so they will drop you if they possibly can. That means that you need to ensure that dropping you is not an option."

The girls nodded, amazed at the change in their former coach, like Emily, she seemed a different person.

"I guess we should go back before we find that Sasha's murdered Lauren" said Payson to clear the pensive silence.

XXX

Sasha had brought a chair right over to face the bed Lauren was sitting on. He stared at her hard, Sasha knew he could be intimidating and now he was using that ability to its full extent. This girl wasn't scared of anyone, she didn't respect anyone and that needed to change before she ruined her own life and that of everyone around her.

"Do you have anything at all to say for yourself?" Sasha asked dangerously.

Lauren bit her lip, she didn't know what to do. Usually she managed to get away with things pretty easily but she wasn't sure this time. Everyone was practically in love with Emily just because she managed to make a comeback and she hadn't seen Sasha this mad before. "I'm sorry?" She said, trying to actually sound like she meant it. But the thing was that Lauren didn't really know if she was sorry: she regretted that she hurt Emily, but on the other hand she was vulnerable and adding another talented gymnast to the mix threatened her Olympic chances even further.

Sasha wanted to slap Lauren for the tone in her voice, he resisted just in time, curling his hands into fists and forcing them on his lap. He counted to ten in his head and took a deep breath. He had to handle this right. "Lauren I am sick of your BS and drama. I have tried countless times to make you a better gymnast. I have tried to make you focus but you are your own worst enemy. If you focused on improving yourself rather than sabotaging others you would be as good as the others."

Lauren couldn't believe her luck, all Sasha was going to do was give her a lecture. She pretended to listen seriously "I understand Sasha; I will focus harder in future."

"Oh stop pulling your stupid fake remorse I'm sick of it."

"Sorry"

"That's just not going to be good enough this time. You either promise me that your allegiance belongs to the Rock or to the NGO. If it's to the NGO you will return to Boulder and not set foot in the Rock again, have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal. I pledge my allegiance to the Rock and my team and my coach." Lauren said with mock seriousness, her hand over her heart.

Sasha smirked: if Lauren genuinely thought that those were the only consequences for her actions she hadn't been around him enough. "Excellent. Since you are now going to put your club first you will tell Payson about sending the photo to Ellen Beals."

Lauren's jaw dropped, Sasha was slyer than she thought he was. "Can't it wait till after nationals, you said yourself that you were sick of drama, and you know how this will impact Payson?"

"No, you'll tell her now." Sasha said as he texted Darby to bring the other girls back.

"But that's not fair you can't just spring this on me."

"Life isn't fair, kid. I thought you of all people would understand that seeing as what you've done to all of your teammates."

"But you don't understand!" Lauren was about to bring in her mother's death and father's absence when Sasha spoke again.

"You're right; I don't understand how you could hurt your friends like that and be reckless with everyone's lives. I don't care how hard your childhood was, that does not excuse you from your behaviour. Do you think that Kelly has fantastic parents? Emily, like you, only has one parent and both Kaylie and Payson hardly ever see their fathers. But for some reason they don't feel the need to bring down everyone around them."

Lauren rolled her eyes and leant back against the wall "whatever" she mumbled under her breath. Sasha ignored her.

After a little while Emily and Darby came in, followed by Kelly, Kaylie and Payson. Emily's eyes were red and puffy but there was a look of determination in them that scared Lauren. It was the same look of determination that Payson and Kelly had and that Kaylie had had in her brief reign as number one girl at the Rock.

Sasha looked at his girls "sit down ladies, Lauren has something she wants to say."

"I'm sorry Emily, what I did was petty and uncalled for."

Emily nodded at Lauren but didn't say anything. Surprisingly Emily didn't feel angry, just empty and she couldn't be bothered with Lauren.

"And Payson can I speak to you in private?" Payson stood up but Sasha motioned for her to sit.

"No Lauren, you are part of a team and you will be accountable to all of your teammates."

Lauren bit her lip. This was worse than she'd expected. Payson might forgive her but Kelly and Emily didn't like her to begin with. Once they heard what she had to say she highly doubted whether they would ever talk to her again. Lauren started to cry "Pay – it was me. I sent the photo of you and Sasha Kissing to Ellen Beals. I stole the video tape and edited it so it looked like you were actually kissing properly. I'm really sorry, if that counts for anything and I regret it all the time."

Payson's face had gone completely white, Sasha put a hand on her shoulder and Emily gripped her hand tightly, but Payson didn't return the grip. After a while Payson spoke. Her words were quiet, measured and detached. And to Lauren, that was a thousand times worse than anything emotional. "You're my teammate. Nothing will change that and I've come too far to waste time being bitter. But you've just lost yourself a friend, firstly because of what you did and secondly because you lied about it for such a long time."

Payson stood "do you need any help packing Em." Her hands were shaking so she put them in her pockets so nobody could see. There was no way she was going to give Lauren Tanner the satisfaction of showing anything she did had any power over her at all.

Emily put her arm around her friend "I'm always keen for help packing, so long as you don't reorganise everything."

Lauren grinned "well that was much better than I was expecting, she wasn't mad at all."

Sasha replied quietly "no Lauren, that's the worst response you could have got. She's not angry because she's given up on you: she genuinely doesn't care about you anymore. And I suggest you change before others give up on you as well."

Lauren sat still for a couple of seconds, digesting what Sasha had said. Then she realised that what he said was true. Payson's eyes had not held any emotion, which was odd because Payson was quietly passionate. Lauren was suddenly scared. She'd always felt she could rely on Payson. The former Rock captain was loyal to a fault and was one of the people who had always believed in her despite her flaws. She needed to gain her approval again. And that of everyone else.

**A/N so Lauren finally tells Payson about the photo, and the girls are reunited. Next chapter we are well and truly back at the Rock and we will check in with James (finally), Summer and Chloe. And Ellen Beals might even make an appearance. As always let me know what you thought xx**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Back in the saddle**

Emily's heart rose to her throat as the Rock bus drove over the hill to reveal Boulder. She'd fallen in love with the city despite all the hard times she associated it with. Payson saw her expression and smiled "glad to be back?"

Emily nodded "surprisingly yes. Though I'll probably regret it when I have both Darby and Sasha breathing down my neck at training." She heard Sasha laughing from the front of the bus and rolled her eyes at Kaylie and Kelly. Darby had very smoothly asked Lauren to join her on the road trip back to keep her away from the others. The bus pulled into the Rock parking lot. Seeing her old gym sent a shiver down her spine – as she saw the parents lined up in front of the building with the banners above them Emily realised that her dream was finally serious now. Back in LA she had everything to gain and nothing to lose but now she had to be committed. There was no going back now. The thought excited and terrified her at the same time.

Payson gripped Emily's shoulder. "You can do it." Emily nodded, shocked at how the blonde girl seemed to be able to read her thoughts so easily.

Emily scanned the small group assembled in front of the gym as she stepped off the bus. Mark Keeler had his arms around his wife – he had a rare day off with his family. Becca was waving, genuinely happy to see all of them. Kim smiled warmly at Emily. She smiled back. After her own family and Margi's family the Keelers were Emily's favourite family in the world. Next to them stood Ronnie Cruz looking anxiously for Kaylie to come off the bus. Finally Chloe dressed in a leopard print dress was waving like a maniac, her purse being held securely by Brian.

"Mum!" Emily uncharacteristically emotional ran to her mother, tears streaming down her face. She hugged her tightly and whispered "I've missed you."

Chloe beamed. Any sort of affection from Emily was treasured. Her daughter was so too stoic in her opinion. "I've missed you too sweetheart."

Emily knelt down to hug Brian who looked close to tears. "What's up with her?" Brian asked, nodding towards Kelly. The brunette had grabbed her suitcase and stormed down the street. Emily shrugged "I'm guessing Momma Parker was too busy to pick Kelly up." She said as Kaylie and Ronnie chased after Kelly. "She'll be ok though, she's got us."

Dinner at the Kmetkos was just like Emily was expecting: disorganised with mismatching crockery and Chloe talking a mile a minute with Emily and Brian getting the odd word in. It made Emily nostalgic but at the same time she missed Damon like crazy. After Brian went to do his homework Chloe said "there are some people who want to see you Em, I told them to wait till after we'd caught up properly."

Emily rolled her eyes "Mum! I'm tired, just for one night can we please not socialise."

Chloe laughed at her daughter "these people you will want to see."

Emily groaned and followed her mother to the car. "Can you at least tell us who these mysterious people are? Or are you going to torture me the whole way there?"

"Get in honey"

Emily did her best to refrain from swearing and obediently got in the passenger seat "fine, but I refuse to be cordial." She muttered, turning up the old fashioned stereo system so that Damon's new CD blared, drowning out any attempt Chloe might make at conversation.

After a couple of minutes Chloe pulled up to a cottage with a white picket fence. It was in a similar sort of neighbourhood to Payson's: nowhere near as flash as Kaylie's but far nicer than Emily's. "Who do we know who lives here?"

"Wait and see kiddo." Chloe bubbled as she knocked on the door.

"You know this whole mysterious thing is getting old." Emily was about to continue her rant when the door swung open to reveal Summer, dressed in slacks carrying James. Emily gasped, and a lump rose in her throat. He'd grown a lot since he was born but Emily would recognise him anywhere.

"Would you like to hold him?" Summer whispered.

Emily nodded. Her son's dark her was messy and he smelled like talcum powder, his brown eyes lit up when they saw Emily. "Hey baby, Mummy Emily is here." She said, referring to herself by the name she and Summer had agreed on. She kissed the top of his head and James reached out a tiny hand and grabbed a lock of Emily's hair. Emily gently placed her hand over James's and pulled his hand away, he gripped her finger instead.

"He's strong."

Summer smiled "he is the son of a champion gymnast'

Emily forced herself to smile. She was getting a bit sick of everyone obsessing over gymnastics. She was other things as well, including a mother.

Summer placed a hand on Emily's shoulder "I just realised I have to pop out to the store, would you mind watching James?"

Emily nodded "I would love to"

"Actually I think I will have to go to the store every Monday evening, would that suit you?"

"Of course. Thank you Summer, really, I really appreciate you including me when you don't have to."

After Summer and Chloe left Emily sat James down with some building blocks. His chubby hands were just reaching the stage where they could grip the blocks and put them into piles. Emily looked around Summer's living room: it was pristine. Apart from James's blocks the room was completely tidy. There were two photos on the mantelpiece: one of Summer with her parents at her graduation and one with her and James. It was a nice room but Emily thought it lacked character. If it were her and Damon's living room the walls would be plastered with photos and there would be CDs and books scattered everywhere and Damon's guitars would inevitably be present. Emily sighed: she'd made her decision about James and it was for the best. She wished it just didn't make her wince every time she thought of her son and the life he could have had with her and Damon. She picked up her old beaten up phone.

"Hey Damon"

"Hey Mustang. How is Boulder? You kicked those Rock girls' arses yet?" Damon said enthusiastically.

Emily smiled "you're such a dork."

"And you love me for it."

"Very true. How's LA?"

Damon sighed, suddenly serious "It's nothing without you. The house is so empty." His words made Emily's heart wrench. "But I'll survive, at least I can cook mushrooms now."

"Ew"

"You're missing out. I'll make you like them someday."

"Uh huh"

"So what's new with you?"

"Well I'm sitting in Summer's living room playing blocks with James." Emily said matter of factly. She didn't want to get all emotional, it wasn't her style.

"Wow, how is he? Is he happy?" Emily didn't like the sound of desperation in Damon's voice.

"I think so."

"Good"

Emily hated herself with every fibre of her being. She was so selfish. She should have just kept James instead of breaking Damon's heart and turning his life upside down just so she could do gymnastics. "Look Damon I'm so sorry. I know how badly you wanted us to be..." Emily tailed off.

"A family?"

"Yes that"

"We are, Em: we're just not a very conventional one."

"That's one way of putting it I guess. I just feel awful."

"Don't you dare. James is going to have an amazing life with Summer and we are going to be involved and we get to follow our dreams. It's win win."

"I know I just wish it didn't hurt so much." Emily said quietly before pulling James into a hug.

XXX

"Again Emily, keep your knees together and you legs straight this time!" Sasha yelled. Emily groaned. It was her first nighttime training with Sasha and the other Rock elites and she was being quickly reminded of how tough Sasha was. She'd been doing this vault for over two hours without a break. That was four times as long as Darby ever made her do it. And she was doing well in vault, she could land her double twisting yurchenko in the pit and her second vault was even better, even though it had a lower start value. But for some reason Sasha just kept on pushing her. Emily gritted her teeth and did her vault again, forcing her body to stay straight in order for it to twist as accurately as possible. She did her blind landing and almost stuck it, with just a small hop. She saluted and walked over to get a drink.

"Better Emily" Sasha said as he came over to join Emily.

Emily was too exhausted to talk so she just nodded. It wasn't the enthusiastic praise she would normally get from Darby but Sasha was a different sort of coach and any praise from him was an achievement.

"Take a half hour break while I help Kaylie on floor." Emily beamed.

"Good job" Payson said as she joined Emily. The blonde was in one of her signature purple leotards and had her hair in a messy bun.

"Same to you Miss Perfect Amanar"

"It's hardly perfect, and seriously Em, you've come so far. You would have never tolerated two straight hours of vault training before James."

Emily laughed "very true, I would have sulked about how hard my life was. Much like Lauren's doing at the moment."

"You were never as bad as her." Payson said, her voice slightly bitter, slightly mocking. It made Emily sad to think of the state of the Rock team. Everyone was ignoring Lauren, Kaylie was quieter than ever and Kelly was so tense that she'd yelled at a level six for using her favourite beam at practice. The girl was reduced to tears but Emily thought it was pretty funny.

The girls watched Kaylie for a while. The short brunette was lovely on floor. She didn't have the raw power of Kelly or Lauren and she was nowhere near as good as Payson but she looked happy. Kaylie was a natural performer and the floor was her stage.

"She's good." Kelly said as she joined Emily and Payson.

"You're complementing someone else? Are you sure you're feeling alright KP?" Payson joked.

Kelly rolled her eyes "do you lot ever act your age? Your petty banter is annoying as hell." She said quietly.

Payson raised her hands in mock surrender "chill Kelly I was just joking."

Kelly rolled her eyes and sat down next to Emily. Emily and Payson looked at each other, confused. Kelly usually dished out banter with the best of them and she never got offended.

"Are you ok Kelly, you haven't been yourself lately?" Emily asked.

Kelly groaned and rolled her eyes. "I'm fine ok."

"That's crap Kelly and you know it. Is everything all good with your Mum?" Payson asked.

"I'm fine ok." Kelly snapped before walking over to join Kaylie who had finished her routine. Kaylie walked over to Kelly and hugged her.

Emily looked at Payson "what was that about?"

"I have no idea, but Lauren doesn't look too happy." Lauren had seen Kaylie hug Kelly and she stood up and stormed out of the gym.

Payson sighed "we're screwed for nationals, completely screwed. We can't afford to have all this drama!" She got up and went after Lauren.

Emily really couldn't be bothered going after Lauren so she walked over to Kelly and Kaylie. Kaylie saw her coming and went to the changing room. "What's up with her?" Emily asked Kaylie.

Kaylie looked at Emily for a couple of seconds. "Can you keep a secret?"

"You know I can." Emily said tersely.

"Well Kaylie has been staying with me for the past week or so. Things aren't going so well at home for her and tonight she's going to try and talk to her Mum. I can't tell you any more than that but I'd appreciate it if you and Payson eased up on her a bit. She's kind of fragile at the moment."

"Of course, thanks for telling me."

Kaylie smiled "it's so good to have you back, Em." She pulled Emily into a hug.

"It's good to be back." She paused, Kaylie had felt too thin but she didn't want to stir up any more drama "you're ok aren't you Kales?"

The national champion smiled, but it looked forced. "I'm fine, Em."

"Good, just remember you don't have to try and help everyone all the time, make sure you take some time out for yourself as well."

Kaylie smiled "I could say the same to you." She said before heading out to the locker room.

"I'm glad you're back Emily, the girls really needed you here." Sasha said making Emily jump. Her coach had appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm sure they were fine. I feel like I've caused so much drama, especially like I've turned the others against Lauren."

Sasha chuckled "that would have happened with or without you. And the girls need you – you're down to earth. They see how much you've struggled and it inspires them to keep going."

Emily grinned at her coach "well it works both ways, they certainly keep me entertained. There was nowhere near as much drama in LA."

"Em, Hollywood has less drama than the Rock."

"Very true, Sasha."

XXX

You could cut the air with a knife. That's how tense things were in the Parker household, they had been that way ever since Kelly had decided to go with the other girls to ask Emily to return. Kelly had come back from LA tired but exhilarated at the same time only to find Sheila waiting for her in the lounge.

"_Where the hell have you been girl?" Kelly winced at the tone of her mother's voice. She had been drinking again. She had started when her father left them but she usually controlled herself when Kelly was at home. That was one reason Kelly tried to stay near her mother as often as she could despite the fact that she did not enjoy her mother's company at all._

"_You know where I've been Mum, I went to LA remember. Coach Belov rang you: he told me. You didn't need to worry."_

"_I wasn't worried. I just can't understand why you gave up three days training to help out someone you hardly know when you could have spent that time at the gym. I can't believe how blasé you are about coming second at the Rock."_

_Kelly had spent her whole life blindly obeying her mother. Sheila had been the one who stood beside Kelly when her Dad left and she had always told Kelly that she had her best interests at heart. Kelly knew she had to push herself to win and that she needed to sacrifice almost everything. But what Kelly didn't understand was why she needed to alienate everyone around her to get where she needed to go._

_Kelly had a sharp tongue and could leave the fiercest debaters shocked into silence but when it came to her mother she never had anything to say. Part of her still felt guilty about her Dad leaving and she felt sorry for her Mum. So all Kelly said was "I know you don't understand."_

_Then Sheila slapped her._

_Kelly's cheeks burned red, more from embarrassment than pain. Finally she saw her mother through her father's eyes: she was manipulative and miserable and only valued Kelly as a way to get money. Kelly looked her mother in the eye. She was done being a timid little girl, she was a world champion, she had been providing for her family since she was nine and her mother had no right to treat her like this._

"_I'm leaving Mum. I'm going to stay somewhere else for a couple of weeks. I want you to think about what you've done. Don't worry about rent or power just forward those to me and I'll make sure the deposits for food will still be on automatic payment for you. All I ask is that you don't come to the gym and don't follow me." She carefully picked up her duffel bag she'd taken to LA and walked out the front door. She closed it firmly behind her but didn't slam it, Shelia was not going to be rewarded by getting emotions out of her. She walked a couple of blocks to a nearby park where she often went for her morning run, put down her duffel bag and cried. She realised how stupid this all was. Reluctantly she pulled out her phone and dialled the one person she thought she could rely on, who always put others before herself, Kaylie._

"So you're back are you?" Sheila eventually said. Kelly winced at the neglect the front room was in, there were unwashed plates and cups on the coffee table, the curtains were only half closed despite it being 9.30 at night and Sheila was still in her robe. Kelly didn't know whether to be sad or angry.

"For now, Mum: I'm worried about you."

Sheila swore "you've got a funny way of showing it. Generally people don't abandon people they're worried about."

Kelly marched over to her mother and drew herself up to her full height. Which admittedly wasn't very much "you forced me away!"

"You had that slap coming for you my girl, you needed to be put in your place after your selfishness. Putting your stupid little friends before your career and family. I know you're all about being a team player but family comes first."

Kelly turned her back on Shelia so her mother wouldn't see her crying. She really didn't want to do this. She had been hoping like crazy that Shelia would have taking this as an opportunity to turn herself around. Kelly wanted her desperately to prove that she could live on her own and not rely on Kelly but all she'd done was confirm Kelly's worst fears. Shelia was nothing more than a desperate alcoholic.

"I know family comes first mother."

Shelia grinned "you've finally come to your senses then have you? Good, but I expect an apology."

Kelly gritted her teeth and tried to remind herself that it was the alcohol talking, not Shelia. "No, that's not what's going to happen. You are going to pack up your things and in the morning we are going to check you into rehab and you are going to turn you life around. I know you won't understand but I'm doing this because I love you." Kelly didn't wait for her mother to answer, she ran up the stairs and into her room. She locked the door so Shelia couldn't get in. Finally once she was in the comfort of her own bed she cried into her pillow, big rasping sobs until she couldn't cry anymore and she eventually fell asleep.

XXX

The beam had always been Emily's weakest event. No amount of natural intuition could make you stay on if you didn't land exactly right. And she was tall for a gymnast which made high difficulty on beam next to impossible. But Ellen Beals and the selection committee wouldn't even look at her if she didn't compete all around so reluctantly she mounted the beam with a simple leg up. She carefully made her way through her routine. She had just completed her fourth length which had a sheep jump in it when Darby called her over to her makeshift office in the building she was hiring out to train Emily. Emily bit her lip: Darby rarely ever interrupted her training and especially not on beam.

Emily walked over to Darby and saw that there was a middle aged woman with her. The lady was wearing a suit and looked quite enthusiastic when Emily introduced herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Kmetko, shall we sit?"

Emily smiled anxiously "of course"

"I'm Linda Varr from admissions at Yale University. I know it's a bit early to be thinking about college but I speak on behalf of all of my colleagues that we were very impressed with your SAT scores, especially in light of the fact you are a top level athlete and you worked for most of your senior school years. Therefore it gives me great pleasure to tell you that Yale is happy to offer you a full academic scholarship for next year and for the rest of your undergraduate years provided you keep up a strong academic performance."

Emily sat there for a couple of seconds, completely shocked. This was amazing, but horrible at the same time. Eventually she managed to find her voice and she made the usual perfunctory response about being grateful and needing time to think and Linda left. Emily almost wanted to laugh at the irony, a year ago when she was pregnant if she'd been told she would have the choice between a lucrative scholarship at an Ivy league school and an Olympic career she would have been ecstatic but now it just felt like her head was about to explode.

**A/N sorry for the very long wait! I don't have an excuse really apart from writer's block. Anyway I hope you liked the chapter, next chapter we have Lauren trying to save the day and Emily and Damon realising the impacts of the decision. I also have done an outtake about Payson talking to Sasha about the tape if anyone is interested. As always let me know what you thought.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"When to you have to give an answer?" Darby asked Emily quietly. Emily was nervous by Darby's mood. She was usually so feisty and this air of resignation was so unlike her.

"Two weeks" Emily mumbled, looking down at her hands, all of her nails were bitten to the quick. "And I can't hold the offer till after the Olympics. It's now or never. There is no way I could train elite and meet scholarship requirements at Yale." Just the name of the Ivy League school gave her butterflies in her stomach.

Darby sighed. "It's your decision Em, I can't make up your mind for you but I'll support you either way."

Darby's voice sounded strained. Emily could tell that she thought she would take the scholarship. Emily forced herself to smile at her coach. "Darby, whatever my decision is, I just want to thank you so much for everything. You've inspired me, not just to be a better gymnast but to be a better person." Emily was shocked to find herself near to tears. Darby was a huge part of her life now, she was so much more than a coach, she was like an older sister.

"You've inspired me too, kid." Darby whispered as she wrapped Emily in a tight hug. And Emily hugged her back.

"I was going to see the others at Spruce Juice" Emily lied. She knew that she needed to leave before she and Darby both started crying in earnest.

Emily left the office and looked around the gym. She was surprised to find Kaylie and Payson waiting for her. "Uh guys isn't Sasha going to kill you if you stand there any longer?"

"He told us what happened." Payson said quietly. He thought we should go away and process it.

Emily raised her eyebrows. "Is he feeling ok?"

"He just doesn't want any more drama" Payson shot back quickly, making Emily wonder for the umpteenth time about Sasha and Payson's relationship.

"Ok" Emily said sceptically. "Spruce juice?"

"Always" said Kaylie, making the other two laugh. Emily and Payson shared a look: they were going to make sure Kaylie drank a whole smoothie. Their friend was too thin.

They had been at the cafe for about twenty minutes, and Emily felt heaps better. Kaylie and Payson were purposefully not pressuring her either way and they were both excited for her getting the scholarship. As Kaylie put it, it was a huge honour either way, regardless of whether she accepted it. They had moved on to discussing how to convince Sasha to let them decide on their own leos for nationals when Lauren walked over to their table.

"Hey babes, how's it going? Congrats on the scholarships Emz you totally deserve it."

Emily tried not to roll her eyes and failed. Part of her felt sorry for Lauren, but the rest of her wanted to punch Lauren in the face. She could see Payson was feeling the same way, the blonde girl's face had become totally expressionless – everyone at the gym knew that was a warning sign with Payson. Even Kaylie, the most forgiving of the three, ignored Lauren.

Lauren took no notice of the fact that the others were ignoring her and sat down, with a fake smile plastered on her face. "So this is nice" she said "the old crew back together again, what flavour did you get Pay?" she asked, picking up Payson's smoothie and taking a big gulp. "Oh blueberry, that's my fave, you've got good taste."

Emily curled her fingers up into fists. She had to make one of the hardest decisions she'd ever have to make and all she wanted was an hour with her friends to talk it over. Why couldn't Lauren just butt out, just for one hour? She couldn't take Lauren any more. Emily stood up and slammed her chair into the table, her only sign of anger – although it was enough to alert the others. "Thanks for the smoothie Kay – see you later Payson. I've got to get back home."

Lauren watched Emily go, somewhat satisfied. She felt threatened by Emily and it was good news about this scholarship. She'd be mad to turn down the Ivy League for a very long shot at the Olympics, especially since nationals were so soon. "What's with her?" Lauren asked.

Payson looked at Lauren angrily "do you actually think about anyone other than yourself?"

Lauren felt like she'd been slapped. Payson was seldom angry and she was usually supportive of Lauren, even when she was catty towards her.

"Wow everyone is cranky today, you know what I think we need a good old fashioned sleepover, just the three of us."

Payson glared at Lauren "shut up, Princess. You've effectively ruined Emily's chance of pursuing her dream by getting nationals shifted and you made Sasha seem like a paedophile so you'll excuse me if I don't actually feel like being your bff. As I said before, we're done – leave me alone!" Payson stood up and followed Emily.

Lauren was shocked but there was no way she was going to let Payson get to her, she still had Kaylie, her best friend. "I guess it's just us two then."

Kaylie sighed "look Lauren, you're a great gymnast and I know you've been through a lot, but so have the rest of us. And I don't want to sound like a bitch, but I've got enough on my plate without your drama. So it think it would be best if we just saw each other at the gym and not outside it." The national champion looked and sounded exhausted – she sounded apathetic rather than angry but her words cut Lauren far more than Emily's or Payson's had.

"Fine" Lauren said spitefully, she pulled her cardigan on and picked up her handbag.

"Lauren, wait" Kaylie said, and Lauren paused. "You need to find a way to earn back their trust. Emily and Payson don't hate you, it's just that you've hurt them both so much that they don't feel they can trust you anymore."

Lauren nodded "thanks Kaylie."

XXX

Lauren opened her front door, the house was quiet. Her father, as usual was still at work and the cleaner had left already. Lauren walked into the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea. She placed her gym bag on the floor and sat down on one of the bar stools. The incident at Spruce Juice made her realise that her teammates were growing up. It wasn't that they hated her, it was that they were sick of the drama. That scared Lauren, because instead of being angry with her for awhile and then making up it looked like her teammates were actually through with her. They saw her as petty and vindictive. Which was totally true but she needed to convince them otherwise. She didn't like to admit it, but her teammates were really the only family she had. Her mother was dead and her father absent most of the time.

Lauren finished her tea, leaving the mug on the bench for the cleaner to worry about in the morning and went up to her room. After an hour long shower and another hour spent drying her hair and plucking her eyebrows Lauren came back downstairs to find her father sitting at the dining room table with his steak and potatoes. Lauren looked at her father and was shocked by how tired he looked, there were bags under his eyes and he was pale. Lauren bit her lip, realising for the first time how hard her father must work. Nevertheless he smiled when Lauren entered the room.

"Hi sweetheart."

"Hi Daddy" she said and kissed his cheek before sitting down at her designated place at the other end of the huge table. She looked despondently at the salad Vanessa had prepared for her. Sometimes she wished she could have a burger or something.

"How was your day Lauren?" Steve asked.

"Fine, I stuck my Patterson dismount every time today. I can't wait for the American Cup."

"That's great honey" Lauren smiled at his praise but she couldn't help but feel that he was more pleased by the fact he'd be able to brag about his daughter's stellar beam routine than the fact that Lauren was happy with her routine. How did we become so distant from each other? Lauren wondered silently. We were close after Mum left but then we both threw ourselves into gymnastics and forgot about each other as people. I hardly know the man sitting across the table from me.

"Are you okay Lauren?" Steve asked "you seem quiet."

"Daddy I want to ask you a favour."

Steve looked resigned "anything Lauren, within reason."

"I want you to move nationals back to the original date." If that didn't win Kaylie and Payson back Lauren didn't know what would.

Steve spluttered, almost spilling his wine down his shirt "what did you say?"

"I want you to move nationals back, make a deal with Ms Beals."

"And why would I do that? I thought you were pleased she'd moved it."

"Well Emily needs more time, and so do I."

"Honey, you're sticking the Patterson you don't need more time, and I don't want you to start getting charitable towards your teammates. You need to put yourself first, it's a competitive time doll." He watched Lauren roll her eyes at him – a sight that was getting more common. "And besides you've got to learn that the world doesn't revolve around you sweetheart" He added as an afterthought.

XXX

The gym was buzzing with the news of the offer from Yale. It was meant to be a secret but then the Rock wasn't exactly the place for secrets. She did find it funny though how Rock parents who completely ignored her before were now acknowledging her and sucking up to her like they did to the other elite parents. Their two faced behaviour just made Chloe hold them in more contempt than before. What really worried Chloe was the impact that the offer was having on Emily. Her daughter only had a few weeks before nationals and her focus was all over the show. There was no way she was going to be ready in time if she did decide to continue. And Chloe really wanted her to. Her daughter was a born gymnast. She was never happier than when she was on the apparatus, and even though Yale was an incredible opportunity – it wasn't her dream and there would be other opportunities at great colleges. There wouldn't be another shot at the Olympics. Chloe sighed as Emily slipped off the beam for the second time in one routine. Emily needed more time and Chloe was going to do all she could to get it for her. She looked around her – Steve Tanner was sitting two rows behind her. He was the one person at the Rock who had clout with the NGO, and Ellen Beals in particular. And she still had something over him. She'd seen him in the strip club where she worked while he was still with Summer. Chloe had an idea. It was underhanded and tacky but Emily's future was at stake and everyone at the Rock thought she was tacky anyway.

"How's it going Steve?" Chloe said to her former boyfriend.

"Fine thanks, how are you?"

"Good. Lauren's coming along nicely isn't she? She's going to rock nationals with that beam routine."

Steve looked flattered by the statement which was exactly what Chloe was going for. The elder Kmetko had grown up in a tough neighbourhood and it had taught her that flattery would get you everywhere.

"Well I'm very proud of her."

"She seems to be recovering well from you and Summer breaking up."

Steve shot Chloe a look of fury that revealed why he was referred to as the most feared lawyer in Boulder. Chloe smiled sweetly "it would be an awful shame if she knew what you got up to in your spare time while Summer was waiting at home for you." Chloe walked away from her ex strangely satisfied. She wasn't one for blackmail as a general rule but some people just deserved.

"Chloe, what do you want?" Steve yelled desperately after Chloe. Chloe turned around slowly and raised her eyebrows.

"You seriously need to ask? I thought you were an intelligent man."

XXX

Emily was officially a wuss. It had been a week since she'd heard from Yale and she hadn't spoken to Damon about the scholarship. She'd pleaded exhaustion to keep their phone calls short and Damon hadn't protested. His manager was working him harder than ever so they hadn't had a proper conversation in a long time. But Emily knew that if she didn't tell Damon soon, he'd hear about it from somebody else. She reluctantly dialled his number.

"Em, this is a pleasant surprise." Damon said when he picked up the phone. "I was having a rough afternoon but you've just made it a million times better."

Emily cringed: why did Damon have to be so perfect all the damn time. "I'm glad – listen I need to talk to you about something, do you have a second?"

"Course – what's up?"

"Well I had a visitor at the Rock, a lady from Yale, and she um offered me a scholarship." Emily spoke quickly "it's an academic one so I'd need to keep my grades up, and I can't defer it."

There was a long pause and Emily was actually getting butterflies. Then Damon spoke "wow, that's big. But what about your gymnastics?"

Emily felt like Damon had slapped her. He was usually so unconditionally supportive. "Well I don't know I guess I would have to give it up if I took the scholarship, at least at the elite level."

"Riiight. Well I'm sure you'll make the right decision. Um I'm actually really busy, sorry I couldn't talk for longer, love you. Give John a kiss for me." Damon hung up and Emily bit back tears. Damon was her rock. Suddenly she felt like the sixteen year old who'd arrived at the Rock for the first time surrounded by unfriendly faces and feeling totally unworthy. Slowly she stood up and walked back onto the floor, ready for the second half of her afternoon session with Darby at the back of the gym – out of sight of the other gymnasts, and more importantly their parents. Emily knew that the secrecy side of her training was mostly for her own benefit but today it seemed like it was because Sasha didn't want her tainting the image of the Rock.

Darby was waiting impatiently for Emily. "Where have you been? We were meant to start five minutes ago." Darby was shocked rather than mad. Emily in the past few months had always been early and eager. Now she looked distracted and miserable, a bit like she had when Darby had first coached her at the Rock.

"Nothing, I was just talking to Damon, sorry I'm late."

Darby scowled. Emily needed to get her head together, nationals were just around the corner and Emily couldn't afford to worry about a boy, father of her child notwithstanding. She knew Emily wouldn't respond well to being yelled at so she just muttered "I want to see your bars routine please."

Emily was annoyed at Darby's tone. She was faced with one of the biggest decisions of her life and no one seemed to care. She rolled her eyes and went to chalk up.

"I don't want an attitude Em, I know you're stressed but you need to focus."

Emily gritted her teeth, why did everyone keep telling her what to do? She knew she was acting petulant but she didn't care. She leapt up to the lower bar, expecting to feel the rush of joy that always came when she worked on her favourite apparatus but her rhythm was all wrong. She switched to her first handstand to pirouette then slipped. She hadn't been looking to where she needed to put her hands and she stacked, her face hitting the mat. She swore under her breath. It was incredibly sloppy mistake.

"Get up." Darby said when Emily stayed on the ground.

Emily glared at her coach and jumped back onto the bars.

The training session had been lacklustre at best and a disaster at worst. Emily resented the fact that Darby had treated her like a child and she was mad at herself for not being able to get over it and focus on her routines. She changed into her jeans and favourite t-shirt before realising she'd left her shoes in the training room. She opened the door and saw Sasha and Darby talking. She pulled the door back till it was ajar and listened.

"She's not ready." Darby muttered.

"What do you mean? You've always been certain she can do it."

"Can, yes, wants, no."

"What do you mean, I thought you ironed out those personality issues."

"Well apparently it didn't work. Her bad attitude's back. It was eye rolling and backchatting all day."

Sasha sighed "I really wanted her to make it all the way. It's a shame to let such natural talent go to waste. I know any other elite would kill to have as much natural talent as her but Emily doesn't seem to appreciate it."

Emily was so angry that she was shaking. Everyone seemed to care only about her gymnastics and not about her. She slammed the door and stormed out without her shoes.

XXX

Chloe was mad. Sasha and Darby had upset her kid. Sure she was playing up but she had a lot of stuff on her plate. And it was all because the Tanners _had _to interfere with everything. She looked over to Steve, he was berating Lauren for her beam routine. Chloe heard the word 'useless' used at least three times, and by the time Steve had finished Lauren looked close to tears. Chloe recognised her opportunity.

"Need help?" She asked the short blonde girl.

"I wouldn't be so sure princess, you know as well as I do that there are only six girls going to the Olympics and there are three spots pretty much guaranteed and none of those three girls seem that fond of you at the moment. Which means you need an ally kid."

"What's it to you?"

"I want my kid on the national team for one, and for a few other reasons – besides if the girls realise you're responsible for moving nationals back and giving Emily more time they're more likely to include you." Chloe replied, thinking about the look on Steve's face if he thought Lauren knew about his little strip club habit.

Lauren was silent for a couple of seconds with a calculating look on her face. "What do you want me to do?"

"Well for now I just need you to look at your father over there – pretend to be really disgusted, and then shake my hand."

"That's it?"

"Trust me, that should be enough to get Mr Tanner nervous at least, and if he's nervous I can hopefully get him to make Ellen back down. And if he does I promise I will give you all the credit."

Lauren grinned, who knew Chloe Kmetko could be so devious? Obligingly pretended to listen to Chloe with rapt attention. Then she looked at her father with a look of horror on her face before shaking Chloe's hand. Chloe grinned and then looked over to Steve who looked terrified. Chloe winked at him.

"You'd better get back to training Lauren." Chloe said.

As she'd expected Steve marched over briskly to Chloe. "Tell me you didn't tell her. Seriously Chloe, that would tear my family apart, and more importantly it would destroy Lauren's career. Do you really want that?"

Chloe was disgusted by the fact that Steve put Lauren's career before her happiness. It made her almost pity Lauren, almost. Chloe paused for a while, making Steve squirm. "No I didn't. But she knows something's up. She's not stupid. And I think she should be told, and I will do that if you don't ensure that Nationals is moved back to the original date."

"You're pathetic Chloe." Steve said after a long pause.

"Pots, kettles, etcetera. Have fun will Ellen." Chloe said sweetly.

Steve snorted "I think you're the first person to have used Ellen Beals and 'fun' in the same sentence."

Chloe laughed, at least she and Steve had something in common.

XXX

The restaurant was discreet, if slightly seedy. The cheesy music was playing a bit too loudly and the lighting was bad but the food was decent. Steve stood as the lady he was meeting entered. She was dressed in a black suit, her greasy hair hung around her face which was paler than usual. Steve knew she'd been under pressure at work.

"Ellen, please sit down." Steve pulled out her chair for her.

Ellen beamed "thank you Steve."

Steve tried not to roll his eyes, why did this woman always think that he was flirting with her?

They ordered and Steve got the wine with the highest alcohol percentage, partly to make Ellen loosen up and partly to make the evening bearable. The woman was so uptight and fond of backstabbing that she reminded him of himself.

"So Steve, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

Steve leant forward and plastered a pleading expression on his face "actually Ellen I need a wee favour."

"I'm sure we could sort something out."

Steve gave a slight smile, careful not to betray how nervous he was. Appearing calm and nonchalant was one of the first things he learnt to do as a lawyer and the skill was coming in very handy tonight. "Well you know how Lauren is shall we say, quite emotional for her age."

Ellen smiled "well she's a teenage girl and it's nice to see a girl with some character and personality – but not too much" she added quickly.

"Exactly" Steve said "it's so nice to talk to someone who understands the girls – unlike some others."

Ellen was flattered, as Steve knew she would be. "Well I was an elite gymnast once. I understand exactly what Lauren is going through."

Steve forced himself not to roll his eyes. "Of course and the NGO is lucky to have such a distinguished gymnast in their ranks" Steve lied. "Now Lauren is having a bit of trouble with Sasha, it's nothing personal of course but they aren't really gelling too well and she needs a bit more time to be ready for nationals. So I was just wondering if it would be better for the gymnastics community as a whole if Nationals was moved back a few weeks. Maybe even to the original date."

"Yes well I don't want Sasha Belov's coaching methods to hurt the country's top gymnasts that's for sure. And I don't want one of the NGO's main investors to feel we aren't performing our best so I will definitely see what I can do."

Steve beamed, his first genuine expression of the evening "thank you Ellen, this means so much, really."

XXX

Emily dumped her gym bag in the laundry, too annoyed with everyone and everything to take her clothes out. Then she went into her room and turned up her stereo as loud as it could go, she didn't care if Brian had homework. She looked around her. Her entire room was covered in posters of gymnastics, her wardrobe full of leotards. She didn't like displaying her trophies in her room, but there were photos of her when she was announced onto the national team, of the meet in China, of the exhibition after nationals and lots of her teammates. Her whole life had been dedicated to gymnastics, and for what? For her to have one bad day and then her coaches to suddenly decide she was too immature to make it.

Overcome by a rush of anger Emily swept her arm across her dresser knocking all the photos to the ground. There was another world waiting for her – one that wouldn't require sacrifice every waking moment, one that would let her have the odd bad day. Yale was hugely appealing but then gymnastics was her passion. Her head felt like it was about to explode and Damon was acting weird and Darby just kept pushing her. Silently Emily curled up on her bed and cried.

**A/N** Sorry for the super long wait again, life is slightly crazy but the good news is that the next chapter is already pretty much written, I ended this one early otherwise it would have been about 8000 words. I hope Emily wasn't too annoying in this chapter but I think that's how she would have reacted. Emily tends to get mad at the world and think that life's unfair when she's stressed. And Damon is not being the supportive Damon we're all used to but remember part of the reason he loves Emily is because she's so focused on her dream. Anyways let me know what you thought and thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Karma**

Darby gave Emily an hour off for lunch each day and Emily was spending it with Summer, James and Chloe. They were at the local park feeding the ducks. Emily laughed as James clapped his hands together happily whenever the ducks ate the crumbs he threw at them. Her son had the same natural happiness that Chloe did, she was grateful for that, she wanted him to be happy more than anything, and not have a childhood fraught with anxiety and disappointment as she'd had.

Summer cuddled her son and kissed him on the head, making James giggle. Summer grinned at Emily who reluctantly smiled back. James was going to be okay. He had a stable life and lots of love. But he didn't have his birth parents. Once again the crippling feeling of guilt took over her. She had totally changed the course of her son's life all because of a dream she didn't even know she wanted.

Chloe came over to her daughter and put her arm around her shoulders. "Let's take a walk."

"Mum, I've got training."

"It'll only take a little while." Chloe nudged Emily around the other side of the pond. Emily rolled her eyes. It was lecture time again.

"What Mum?"

"I just wanted to chat with you sweetie, you seemed a bit blue today."

"Yeah I guess. Mum?"

"Yes honey?"

Emily took a deep breath "I'm going for the Olympics. I'm not taking the scholarship. I did not take James away from his family for some college scholarship that was a second best option, he does not deserve that."

Chloe was quiet, which shocked Emily, she'd expected her mother to squeal with delight. Instead, tears in her eyes, she hugged her daughter and with tears streaming down her face she whispered "I am so proud of you my beautiful girl."

Emily started crying too. "Thanks Mummy."

The two Kmetko women stood still for a full minute holding each other in silence before Chloe said "and you didn't take James away from his family, you simply made his family bigger. He will always be a part of us, even if it's not a conventional thing, and it's not like we're conventional anyway."

"This is true. We have a family reputation to uphold." Emily winked at Chloe.

Chloe giggled, she might be more serious and determined than her but Emily was her daughter through and through.

Emily strode into the back room of Darby's gym. Darby still wasn't back from her break. Emily quickly pulled on her training gear and started warming up. She forgot everything else around her and focused on making her body flexible. As she was stretching she envisaged all four of her routines, a trick Damon had taught her and Payson had encouraged her to do. Breathing deeply Emily walked over to the beam, saluted the invisible judges and mounted the beam. Her mount was a simple one. There was no point adding unnecessary risk to her weakest event. She did her first line, 2 flips into arabesque, she wobbled slightly on the connection but held it. She let no other thoughts into her mind except her next move. She continued the rest of the routine as well as she could – finishing with her one and a half twisting dismount. It wasn't the most difficult dismount there was but she stuck it. Emily let herself smile slightly before mounting the beam again. She did ten routines in a row before taking a break and stretching again. It wasn't until she'd finished stretching that she let herself out of her zone and was shocked to see Darby and Sasha both standing there grinning.

"Emily – that was amazing." Sasha said, astonished.

Darby didn't say anything, instead she ran over to Emily and hugged her tightly. "Welcome back Kmetko, we've missed you."

"I take it this means you've made a decision." Sasha said hopefully.

Emily grinned. "Yale has nothing compared to seeing Ellen Beal's face when I'm named to that Olympic team. Now I need to work on my tumbling – you good to spot me Sasha?" Emily walked over to the mat, back straight and head held high.

XXX

Ellen Beals sat in her office. It was small and the only window had a depressing view out to the other side of the street. It was a downgrade from the one she'd had before Lauren Tanner had sent that stupid photo in and it chafed her pride that she'd been on probation simply because she'd wanted a team that the NGO could rely on to be obedient. She was even more annoyed about how her decision to move nationals had pissed everyone off. Things were completely a mess at the NGO headquarters. Everyone was rushing around looking panicked. Ellen herself had only just managed to get a moment to sit down and have a coffee and it was already 1.30pm. She sighed at least she had something to look forward to today. She picked up her phone and dialled a familiar number.

"Steve Tanner" Steve said pretentiously.

"Steve? It's Ellen – listen I've got some bad news. I can't move nationals around. We've pretty much got everything organised" she lied.

"Are you sure, I could ah make it easier for you financially. I know the owner of the stadium I'm sure we could figure something out."

Ellen rolled her eyes. She hated how rich people could just worm their way in everywhere. It was one of the biggest regrets for her: not making the Olympic team meant that she missed out on heaps of endorsements. That, more than anything was probably what made it hardest watching the current elites.

"I appreciate the offer, really but it's just not possible Steve, I'm so sorry. I'm _sure_ Lauren will do just fine though. She's the most powerful tumbler in the country at the moment. And she's rock solid on beam. I mean I know beam's the USA's strongest apparatus at the moment but I'd be very surprised if she wasn't used on beam in team finals at least."

Steve Tanner used all his self control to stop himself swearing at Ellen. She was truly the most odious person he'd ever met, and she had some pretty stiff competition among his commercial clients. "Well thanks for trying Ellen. Take care."

Steve sat in his office, completely dejected. How did things become so messed up? All his life he'd thought he was doing the best for his daughter but he'd ended up embroiled in bribery and blackmail. He'd effectively ended Emily's career and worse still, he'd encouraged the same behaviour in his daughter. She'd almost done the same to Payson. There had been only one person in his life who'd seen that in him but cared about him anyway: Summer. And now Chloe was going to make both Summer and Lauren despise him for going to that strip club. He gripped his temples, pulling at his dark hair. There had to be another way. Who else had sway over Beals? He looked out to his mountain view. There had to be someone.

The answer came to him as he was drinking his morning cup of tea. Lauren had become obsessed with lapsing oolong and Steve had found it surprisingly tolerable. Then he remembered a conversation he'd had when he was trying to find a new coach for the Rock after Sasha left. Steve had been talking to the parents' committee and Darby's name had come up, and Ronnie Cruz mentioned how Darby had made Ellen change her mind completely about inviting her to Olympic Trials – which Darby had subsequently won. Steve knew Ellen, she didn't make decisions about those sorts of things unless she was forced to.

XXX

It was national team practice at the Rock and Kelly and Lauren were in their element: Sasha had forbidden them to say anything catty but that didn't stop them from giving pointed looks when girls didn't completely stick a landing or made small mistakes. Payson spent the entire time trying not to roll her eyes at their behaviour and Kaylie kept to herself. Most of the girls had come up and told her how brave she was about fighting anorexia but she saw lots of whispers behind hands. Sasha wasn't the national team coach despite being the worlds coach. The new coach was Nigel Peterson – he coached Andrea Conway and her young teammate Rosa Reynolds. Rosa was a first year senior and had petitioned onto the team successfully. She was an amazing gymnast – slight, graceful and powerful, she was considered by many to be USA's best all around hope.

Payson tried her best not to worry about Rosa. She was nice to the girl and encouraged her with her elements. She saw the same fire and passion in Rosa that she saw in herself. And that terrified her. Payson hadn't come back from a broken back to win a silver medal. Sure silver was fine, but it wasn't the colour of her dreams. Silver also didn't bring you endorsements that helped your parents to pay the mortgage. Kelly was a bit unnerved by Rosa and Andrea too. Kelly knew she wasn't dynamic or amazing artistic, but what she had over the other Rock girls was that she was super consistent and fairly strong all around, especially on bars, beam and floor. But she knew that Rosa and Andrea could both beat her easily – if they hit.

"Nice try Rosie, you did really good. I mean not everyone can do a perfect beam routine, and that was only a small step on your landing, and that wobble on your second turn wasn't that big. I hardly noticed it from halfway across the gym." Kelly said in her best fake-nice voice.

Rosie looked terrified and scampered over to the uneven bars. Andrea marched over to Lauren. "Her names _Rosa_, not Rosie and leave her alone! Just because you're not exactly doing amazing is no excuse to pick on everyone else!"

Kelly rolled her eyes "whatever _teamie_ I was just helping the kid out."

Andrea resisted the urge to slap Kelly. The two went way back and were the oldest two on the national team. But that didn't stop Kelly driving Andrea sometimes, well most of the time actually. Andrea took a deep breath and fiddled with her long black plait. "Listen Kell – I heard about your Mum, and I'm here for you ok? Just please lay off Rosa and the other young ones. We're meant to be leaders."

Kelly glared at her friend. "I really don't want to talk about it" she started out staunchly before feeling her heart rise to her throat and tears form in her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut: she was _not_ going to cry in the middle of practice. Instead she turned around and marched out of the gym.

Sasha saw Kelly storm out and groaned. Why was it always _his_ gymnasts who stormed out of national team practice? He looked over to see what Ellen Beals' reaction was but to his surprise he couldn't see her anywhere. He gave a relieved sigh and went to see Kaylie, who was about to follow Kelly.

"Leave her Kaylie."

"I can't – she's my friend Sasha" the national champion looked desperate. She was still far too thin in Sasha's opinion and the stress of upcoming nationals and Olympic trials was clearly getting to her, she really couldn't afford to carry the other girls' problems as well.

"Andrea's going, Kaylie. Please stay here and work on your routines. You care about your friends and I admire you for that but you need to be the best you can be."

Kaylie nodded, glad about what Sasha was saying. She was terrified about nationals and trials. Looking around the gym she saw girls who were confident, had supportive families and loved their sport. Kaylie felt like a total failure in comparison. Hesitantly she approached the floor where Nigel wanted her to do her routine.

Sasha glanced worriedly back at Kaylie before heading out of the building to try and find Kelly. He really hoped he could get her back inside and training again before Beals noticed. Kelly was probably the only one of his gymnasts that Ellen actually liked. As he was rushing out the door he got stopped by Darby.

"Hi Sasha." Darby said quickly.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, um what are you up to?"

Sasha narrowed his eyes, something very odd was going on. "I'm actually just about to catch up with Kelly, she uh ran out of practice, I want to get her back inside before Ellen sees her. Speaking of which, have you seen Ellen? She's normally always lurking around during these practices. She's like a vulture or something."

Darby laughed "a vulture?"

"Yeah - ok bad analogy, sorry."

"No I agree with you, although this probably isn't the time or place to tell everyone that the lady who helps determine the girls' future is like a vulture."

"Thanks for the tip." Sasha said caustically, but he smiled anyway. Darby had a way of charming people - even irascible Romanians.

"Oh and Ellen Beals is currently with her boss, and I wouldn't be surprised if nationals is pushed back to its original date and Ellen is on probation – at the very least."

"What?" Sasha started to ask, but Darby had already gone inside the Rock. Sasha rolled his eyes and went to find Kelly. He hated the politics of gymnastics.

XXX

Ellen Beals had been enjoying presiding over national team practice. She loved the way the girls were awed by her and she loved the feeling that she had the power to alter their lives significantly. About forty five minutes in to the practice her phone rang and her boss, Ewan had demanded angrily that she come meet him in his office immediately.

Ellen had tried to stay calm but by the time she reached work her hands were shaking. She wasn't sure of the specific reason why Ewan was mad but she'd done many, many things that would bring the sport into disrepute if they were made public. Ellen pulled her hair into a tight bun and took a deep breath. She'd always covered her tracks perfectly: Ewan couldn't possibly have anything on her other than pure speculation. She knocked on Ewan's door.

"Enter" said a deep, smooth voice.

Ellen turned the door handle and walked into her boss's office. It was large as Ewan often had large meetings and the occasional press conference, Ellen looked around wondering whether she was meant to sit or stand. Ewan briskly nodded to a chair directly in front of his desk. It was noticeably lower than his and Ellen was sure he'd planned it like that. Ellen had used that trick on many occasions herself.

"I'm going to cut straight to the chase, Ellen. I've two incredibly serious allegations made about you."

Ellen clasped her hands in her lap and didn't meet her boss's eyes. Ellen was a bully but she couldn't handle being told off herself.

"The first is that right before the 2000 Olympic Games you instructed a gymnast to take a strong pain killer for her ankle. You knew this would make her fail her drug test. She was sent home immediately and the gymnast who replaced her was interestingly one who's father had given you a substantial amount of money two weeks earlier."

Ellen looked at Ewan with cool malice. "Those are unfounded rumours. The girl took the drugs of her own accord. I tried to stop her actually, but she was in so much pain that she was desperate."

Ewan slapped his hand on his desk "enough!"

Ellen flinched.

"I'm sick of your manipulative behaviour. This sport has enough of a bad reputation for scandal without your match fixing and bribery! I have written statements from all of the gymnasts on the team, and the team doctor who said that he recommended the girl did not take the medication but you were insistent that it would be fine, despite him telling you that it would make her fail a drugs test." He threw the documents at Ellen. She contemplated grabbing them and tearing them up but she knew that Ewan wasn't stupid and that these would only be copies.

"I don't know what to say, Ewan. I am truly sorry but I was young and I really thought the pain killers would help her. We all make mistakes, let's just put this behind us." She tried her best to smile brightly and failed.

"I'm not even going to dignify that comment with a response. Once this conversation is over you will pack up your desk and leave immediately."

Ellen felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. She knew who was responsible for this. Darby, the little weasel had found out her secret eight years ago and used it to get herself to the Olympic Trial, and now she was doing the same to make sure that Emily would get there too. Ellen refused to cry in front of Ewan "you haven't seen the last of me Ewan. I will get my name cleared." She stood.

"Sit back down, Ellen. We still haven't come to the second allegation against you."

Ellen sat back down reluctantly.

"I was intrigued as to why you were so insistent that nationals be brought forward. But I've heard recently that you wanted to do this to harm one specific gymnast who is trying to make a comeback. Now I know you dislike Emily Kmetko but the kid is amazing. Only two years of formal training and she medalled against the Chinese national team. Not to mention her amazing advertising potential. I know she has had some setbacks-"

"Set backs? The kid got arrested and then she got herself knocked up! She's a bad example to girls everywhere. She's a little slut!" Ellen was yelling now.

Ewan stood: he towered over Ellen "be quiet Ellen. Yes she has had a rough time but I think that having the courage to give up your child for adoption, work hard to get incredible SAT scores AND make a comeback in the most physically challenging sport in existence makes for a far better role model than a bitter, middle aged women who messes with children's minds. Now kindly leave. I want your office cleared out by this time tomorrow!"

XXX

Payson was exhausted. The extra one on one morning practices with Sahsa were really taking a toll on her. His focus was so intense, and Payson wanted so badly to meet his expectations that she'd started doing extra conditioning after her family had gone to bed. So when Sasha called an impromptu meeting in the smaller conference room, she was glad of the break.

"Payson, wait a second" Payson turned to see Austin jogging to catch up with her.

"What's up?"

"Not much, just the usual being my charming self."

"Slimy you mean?"

"Wow that was a terrible comeback. You're off form today Pay."

Payson elbowed him in the ribs.

"Seriously though, are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine why?" Payson said defensively. She already had Kim on her back about working too hard, she didn't need Austin chiming in too.

"No reason, just don't push yourself too hard Payson. You're too outstanding and special."

"I appreciate you looking out for me, but I'm fine: really."

Austin put his hands up in mock surrender "ok"

Payson rolled her eyes and went up to the conference room: Sasha was standing by the round table, when he saw Payson walk in his face lit up, quickly followed by a concerned frown. He came over and put his hand on Payson shoulder which sent fizzes down Payson's spine. "You look tired."

Payson forced herself not to groan. "I'm fine Sasha."

Sasha frowned and was about reply when the rest of the Rock elite girls as well as Emily and Darby came in. Darby closed and locked the door behind her. Once everyone had taken their seats Sasha began to speak.

"I called this meeting to give you some very good news. Nationals has been moved back to its original date. It is now a full two months and half months away instead of three weeks."

Emily's hand shot to her mouth and tears welled up in her eyes. This was a dream come true. Kaylie put her arm around her friend. Kelly and Payson high fived and Lauren beamed.

"I also wanted to say that Lauren was instrumental in this – it would never have happened without her. And I know that the five of you have had some issues in the past and I certainly don't want to tell you how to conduct your friendships but I want to remind you that you need each other to succeed and that you take this into account in the way you act around each other."

There was an awkward silence before Payson walked over to Lauren and gave her a hug. "Thanks Lauren, that was decent of you." She still spoke briskly, making it clear that they weren't friends yet but to Lauren it meant the world.

Following the cue of their unofficial leader Lauren, Kelly and Emily all hugged Lauren, somewhat reluctantly.

Sasha looked on and nodded his approval. His broken team was slowly starting to pick itself up and put itself back together again.

**A/N so did you like what happened to Ellen? I think she got what she deserved. Next chapter we have nationals rapidly approaching and we get to see some other USA girls who aren't at the Rock, Damon comes back to town but things aren't the same between him and Emily. Please let me know what you thought :D:D**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Presque La**

Emily squeezed her way through to Damon's gate. She hated big groups of people, especially if they were loud, and this group of school kids excited for their sports tournament were all but yelling at each other. Emily scowled at them, feeling like an old woman when she was probably only a year or so older than them. Eventually they made their way to the far end of the lounge where departures were, much to Emily's relief. She went and bought two coffees: one decaf, and the other with an extra shot – she also grabbed a bunch of sugar sachets and a stirrer. Damon was the definition of a sweet tooth.

Emily had mixed feelings about Damon finally returning to Boulder. She loved him, of course, but his reaction to the Yale scholarship had made her wonder whether he loved Emily, or simply loved the fact that she was an underdog with a dream. She bit her nails as she waited. It was habit that Sasha detested but she couldn't seem to curb it.

"Em!" Called a familiar voice and Damon was almost running towards her, guitar case slung over his back, black hair unkempt, wearing a leather jacket. Emily swore under her breath, whatever his faults, Damon Young was hot. She could see several people, especially the school kids, had noticed and recognised him.

Emily was going to be cold but she couldn't help grinning when she saw him. Damon's face had lit up like a Christmas tree when he'd seen Emily, and Emily's heart had leapt when she saw Damon. She let Damon kiss her quickly and they made their way down to the baggage claim.

"So how's your bars coming along?" Damon asked excitedly as he got into Chloe's car that Emily was borrowing for the afternoon. "I've hardly spoken to you about all your upgrades and stuff." There was a faint accusatory note in his voice.

Emily gritted her teeth; there it was again, his obsession with her gymnastics. "They're fine, um but I've been good too. I've finally started reading The Odyssey, and I'm still tossing up what classes to take senior year but I've got all summer to think about that."

"Yeah you've got way more pressing issues like the tiny detail of the Olympics over summer."

Emily rolled her eyes and changed to a safer topic before she said something she'd regret. She asked Damon about Margi and her family: she missed them like crazy, especially Larissa. Sure they skyped but it wasn't the same as seeing them in person. After what seemed like hours they reached Emily's house. Damon was going to be staying there for a couple of nights before finding his own apartment. Sasha, of course didn't know. He would kill Damon if he distracted Emily this close to nationals. Damon quickly unpacked – he'd packed and unpacked so many times that he was a bit of a machine.

"You're so fast at that, I swear I take ages every time I pack for a competition even though all I need is a few leos and a couple of tracksuits."

"You're a girl" Damon pointed out the obvious.

"I'd noticed."

Damon sighed, something was up with Emily, and he knew her well enough that she rarely came out and said what was bothering her. A childhood full of volatile boyfriends of Chloe made her cautious about speaking her mind. That meant Damon was going to have to say something, which he was loath to do, especially since he'd only just arrived in Boulder. He sat down next to Emily on her bed and tentatively held her hand "what's bothering you, Kmetko?"

Emily took a deep breath, trying to think of an answer that wouldn't make her sound like a bitch. Being unable to think of one, she shrugged "kind of hard to explain."

"Try – I know something's wrong, I know you better than anyone remember."

"Do you?" Emily snapped, Damon recoiled as if she'd slapped him and Emily regretted her snarky tone immediately. She sighed "sorry Damon, that was tacky. I guess it's just that when I rang you about Yale you only seemed to care about my gymnastics. The same with every skype session we've had for ages. And I know it's really immature but I was just wondering do you love me for me, or me because I have a dream."

Damon was silent for a while and Emily said "sorry, I'm being oversensitive - I shouldn't have said anything."

Damon looked down, not wanting to show Emily how close he was to tears "Em, the reason I was so keen for you to keep going with gymnastics was that I couldn't bear the thought that we would have given up our son for nothing. I know that it's selfish and that Yale was an amazing opportunity. Can you forgive me?" Damon was crying for real now.

Emily was so mad at herself. She hadn't even thought of that. She'd never really contemplated how hard it must have been for Damon, to have that expectation of having his girlfriend and child living with him in that perfect house in LA and then her stripping it away, only to think about giving up the dream that had made her give up James in the first place. She hugged Damon tightly "Damon I am so, so sorry. I was the most selfish person ever."

Damon kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry too." He whispered, hugging her back, tears running down onto her hair. "I love you more than anything, for you, not for your dream, I don't care what you do with your life: I'm going to be there with you."

XXX

Summer was standing outside her front gate waiting for them. Motherhood suited her. It had somehow made her calmer and she was so busy looking after James that she didn't have time to play mother to the Rock girls. Emily knew that that was a huge relief to a lot of the girls, especially to Payson and Kaylie. Summer waved enthusiastically when Emily and Damon pulled up in his new car, James beamed when he saw Emily. He clapped his hands together "Mamee Emly." Gently, Summer handed him to Emily who passed him to Damon. Her boyfriend's expression was priceless, it was if the whole world around him had stopped and James was the only thing that mattered.

Summer gave Emily a quick hug goodbye, waved at Damon and drove to meet up with Lauren. She was a bit sceptical about why the young gymnast had called her out of the blue, Lauren had been cold towards her ever since she'd found out Summer was adopting James. Summer had been pretty distant too. Since she'd got to know Emily well and found out that Lauren had deliberately moved nationals she had all but given up on her. She walked into the small cafe Lauren had suggested. Summer smiled, the place was cute with old fashioned tablecloths and chairs, sepia photos lined the walls. If nothing else, Lauren knew how to pick a destination. She Lauren standing by a table, waiting for her. Uncharacteristically Lauren didn't squeal and jump into Summer's arms as soon as she saw her. Instead she just walked over and gave her a quick hug "hey Summer, thanks for meeting me." She seemed older, Summer thought. But not in a bad way.

"It's always a pleasure, Lauren." Summer said honestly. She cared about Lauren like perhaps no one else. The girl was messed up but she'd had a rough childhood and Summer saw that first rather than the rough exterior that almost everyone else saw.

They sat and ordered. Summer got a salad so that Lauren didn't feel like she was missing out. They ate in silence for a little while. Finally Lauren spoke "Summer I want you to know that I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. I know I've said it a thousand times but this time I mean it. I'm going to earn my friendships and try and get my relationship with Daddy back to what it used to be before." Lauren didn't need to say before what "it's really hard. But I'm just trying not to be jealous of people, just worry about my own problems and not try to drag anyone down."

Summer grinned, something in Lauren's tone and demeanour made her seem sincere. "I'm proud of you Lauren. I think it's the first time I've been able to say that honestly in a very long time."

Lauren grinned back, making her look like a cheeky little kid. "That means a lot Summer, coming from you" she paused "but I'm still going to tease the crap out of Kelly and Andrea." She was the bitch of the beam after all, she had a reputation to protect.

Summer snorted "I wouldn't expect anything less."

XXX

Damon had been crazy busy the first four weeks he was in Boulder. His agent was disgruntled about the move and he'd shown it by forcing Damon to do copious amounts of publicity – something he knew Damon hated. Damon was old school, he believed in living for your art and by winning fans with _music_ not with sucking up to some DJ or other and posing for magazines. He'd been so busy that he'd only been able to pop in and see Emily for a bit in her morning practices with Darby – he hadn't managed to stay a whole day yet. But today he'd finally had a cancellation which meant that he had a whole day free. He picked up Emily and he began driving towards Darby's private gym, after a while Emily said "turn left up here."

"Why? The gym's straight ahead."

Emily cleared her throat "well I'm actually training at the Rock all day today."

Damon glared at Emily in shock. The Rock meant facing Sasha. He almost swerved off the road before Emily yelled at him to focus. He took a deep breath and said "so why are you training there the whole day and why didn't you tell me?"

"Well since nationals are only two weeks away, Sasha's insisting I train with the rest of the team because I qualified for nationals as a member of the Rock and Sasha wants me as part of the team because apparently I calm the rest of them down. And I didn't tell you because I wanted to see your reaction, I'm kind of regretting it now though seeing as the shock made you temporarily forget how to drive."

Damon groaned. "I was hoping for a day _off_ today you know, not a day to have the crap beaten out of me."

Emily rolled her eyes "Sasha will be fine. I'm sure he's moved on from everything."

"Uh huh sure, and I'm Justin Bieber."

"Well there are similarities." Emily said straightfaced, making Damon reach over and tickle her.

"Ok I take it back! Please don't kill us."

Sasha had already been at the gym for two hours with Payson before the other elites arrived. He had six girls training for nationals Pay, Emily, Lauren, Kaylie, Kelly and Rachel Jemson – the fourth place qualifier at the Rock Rankings. He didn't know if Rachel would go far this year but she would probably make a splash in 2013 when some of the powerhouses retired. Becca Keeler had decided she wouldn't be competing. Sasha was relieved, Becca was a great gymnast but she wasn't passionate – and there was no point in her being around if she wasn't.

He nodded at Kelly and Kaylie as they walked in behind Ronnie and Leo. He appreciated the effort that Leo was making to support his sister. Kaylie drew her strength from those around her and she needed that, especially on the last stretch towards nationals. Kelly looked happy too. She fitted in really well with the Cruz family, but he knew that she missed her mother, any normal person would.

Lauren strode in with Summer, much to Sasha's surprise. He was about to ask Summer about that when he saw Emily walk in, accompanied by Damon. Sasha snarled, it took all of his self control not to walk over to the little punk and punch his lights out. Instead he meandered over towards the couple – pausing to greet the other elites and offer little critiques and encouragements.

"Morning Emily." Sasha said cheerily.

"Hi Sasha" Emily replied, sceptically. Sasha didn't usually do cheery as a general rule – not unless he was about to explode. She had unpleasant flashbacks of the morning after the infamous keg party right after she started at the Rock. Damon must have picked up on Sasha's anger because his grip on Emily's hand increased dramatically.

Sasha nodded to Damon "It's Derrick right?"

"Uh Damon, actually...sir." Damon added as an afterthought. It never hurt to be polite to people who were approximately a million times tougher than you.

"Sure, would you please come into my office please?"

Damon swore under his breath and looked at Emily who nodded at him. Damon reluctantly followed the blond man up the stairs.

Sasha closed the door to the managers' office and drew the blind. He then socked Damon in the face. Damon staggered back, only slightly surprised. He wasn't angry. He figured he deserved it.

"That's for getting Emily pregnant." Sasha whispered icily.

Damon was about to stand up but Sasha held up a hand "if you get up before I tell you to I will give you one for initially abandoning her and then another for messing with her head when she got offered the Yale scholarship. Am I quite clear?"

Damon nodded.

"My elite girls are precious. They are about to enter into the most important couple of months of their lives, and while I have told Darby that she has control over Emily's lifestyle and her decision to let your charming self into her life that does not mean that I will tolerate _for a second_ you hurting her in any way."

"I believe that sir."

"It's Sasha, cut the crap."

"Yes Sasha."

"Better, now go and support your girlfriend, and remember I am watching you." Sasha snarled.

Damon nodded meekly and went back onto the floor. Sasha grinned. He loved scaring people.

XXX

Kaylie hated packing. She was unashamedly a girly girl, she had so many clothes and so little time. Sighing she held out her two favourite dresses – she only really needed one for the dinner at the end of the week: she'd be conducting interviews in her Rock tracksuit mostly.

"Seriously Cruz just pick one." Kelly said, walking into Kaylie's room in her zebra striped onesie, hair in a messy bun and brushing her teeth.

"Kelly! Keep your filthy toothpaste filled mouth out of my room."

"Whatever" Kelly mumbled through her toothbrush. She walked into Kaylie's ensuite bathroom that also joined onto Kelly's room and rinsed her mouth. She walked back in "you should wear that one, the red suits you, and pink is sort of well, not you."

"Not anymore anyway." Kaylie mumbled. She felt old and tired; she was struggling to stay passionate about gymnastics which freaked her out a bit since they were leaving for nationals tomorrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kelly had come to know Kaylie better than perhaps anyone and her friend and roommate was not in a good way.

"I dunno I guess I just used to be happy go lucky Kaylie and all I had to do was do my best and smile and everything fell into place. Now everything's so screwed up, I haven't seen my Dad since rankings, I've got the media breathing down my neck about my eating disorder and being the defending champion when everyone's upgrading. All I want is my family to be happy and to enjoy my sport." A tear fell down Kaylie's cheek: even when she was upset Kaylie looked perfect.

Kelly came and sat beside her friend, she put an arm around Kaylie and Kaylie rested her head on Kelly's shoulder. "I can't make your Dad come back and I can't get the media off your back but I can stand by you. I've always got your back Cruz. You're like my sister and Ronnie's like the Mum I never had." Kelly bit back tears when she thought of Sheila. She'd written a couple of letter to her in rehab but Sheila hadn't replied.

Kaylie wiped her eyes "that means so much Kelly, and your Mum loves you, she's just hurting at the moment."

Kelly snorted, her tough exterior coming back "no she doesn't."

"She does – she just has trouble showing people she cares about them. A lot like Lauren I guess. Give her a chance, she's only been in rehab a couple of months, maybe she'll make the effort to get time off to see you at nationals."

Kelly brightened "maybe" Sheila was horrible, demanding and demeaning when Kelly was competing but she had _always _come and it was comforting having her there in a weird way. "I'll call her tomorrow if you call your Dad."

Kaylie grinned "it's a deal."

XXX

Payson woke up even earlier than usual. She felt the usual adrenaline rush as she realised that today they were leaving for St Louis. She hummed to herself as she got dressed and had breakfast. She was brushing her hair when Kim and Becca woke up.

"Morning sweetheart." Kim said, beaming at her eldest daughter. "How are you feeling?"

Payson nodded, she was already focusing "good, Mum, it's time to prove to everyone that I'm back for real."

"I'm proud of honey, no matter what happens in St Louis you've come so far and grown up so much. Dad and I will come up on Friday. Are you okay to take Becca to the gym? I'm going to be a bit late."

"Sure." Payson said, stifling a yawn so the others wouldn't see how tired she was. She hugged her mother and she and Becca got in the car.

"What's wrong with you?" Becca asked knowingly as soon as Payson had pulled out of the driveway.

"Nothing I'm fine."

"Uh huh – you look exhausted, exactly how early are you training every day. I know you're up before Mum and I but I'm pretty sure it's not the only half an hour extra of practice that you've been telling Mum."

Payson was silent. Becca was very perceptive, but she wasn't going to tell her that she had two hours extra in the morning. Kim would kill her and then kill Sasha if she found out.

"Fine, tell me I was only asking cos I'm worried about you."

Payson smiled fakely "don't be, I'm fine." She pulled in to the Rock carpark, making her way to the 'Reserved for Keeler' spot, she closed her tired eyes for a second.

"Payson! Watch out!" Becca screeched and Payson opened her eyes to that she was just about to drive into Rachel.

"Shit" she whispered and swerved just in time. Shakily she parked in her spot. She looked at Becca who looked livid.

"Tell me how much extra practice you've been doing."

Payson glared at her little sister. She was so like Kim, she had the bossy mumsy attitude down pat. "I start at 5.30 every morning?"

"What? The others don't get there till 7.30! Payson you're going to get sick! I'm telling Mum."

Payson gripped her sister's arm "No, please Becca. I've worked so hard for this – if you tell Mum about the extra practices or if you tell Sasha about me almost hitting Rachel I won't be allowed to go to nationals, you know how protective they both are. This is my dream."

Becca looked into her sister's eyes. She admired Payson more than anyone in the world. She didn't want her hurt but she knew how important gymnastics was to Payson. "Fine I won't tell" she said softly.

Payson gave her sister a quick hug "thanks Becca."

XXX

Kaylie bounced into the Rock. She'd called Alex and he'd promised her he'd be at nationals. Kelly scowled at her friend's bubblyness – she was seldom excited about anything before 11am and her mood was further soured by the fact she'd called Sheila's rehab centre and her mother had refused to speak to her. Well that was just fine, thought Kelly – she was better off without her.

Sasha was standing in the middle of the gym. The six girls going to nationals walked over to him and lined up in front of him. Sasha smiled at them. He was incredibly proud of them – they had all come so far. Lauren finally owning up to her mistakes and trying to earn their friendship, Kaylie finally having the courage to be herself and Kelly for still doing so well despite having one of the loneliest lives of any gymnast he'd coached. Little Rachel who'd worked so hard to get where she was today. But it was the two tallest gymnasts who astounded him the most. Emily and Payson, two of the gutsiest most persistent people he'd ever met.

"Good morning everyone" he said quietly "today's a big day."

The girls smiled and nodded. Emily and Payson grinned at each other – they had both been completely counted out of gymnastics before so this opportunity meant the most to them.

"Are you ready to choose your captain?"

"Payson" said five voices unanimously, while Payson said "Kelly".

Sasha grinned at Payson "well captain, are you ready to lead the team in our final Rock on before St Louis?"

"Gladly coach." She pulled the girls and Sasha into a group huddle.

**A/N **sorry for taking ages to update. I suck I know, so next chapter we're in St Louis for nationals. It's not going to be easy for the Rock girls, and Darby gets some um interesting news. Also MIOBI is back on TV it's different hey? But I really like the new girl Jordan – she seems quite different and original so I might include her in this fanfiction, what do you guys think?

As always please review and let me know what you thought :D:D


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 Never give up, it's such a wonderful life**

The stadium at St Louis seemed much bigger than Emily remembered it. She'd been in bigger stadiums at bigger meets but this was the most important meet of her life. The butterflies in her stomach were going crazy and she was so nervous she thought she might puke. They past the stadium and went on to their hotel. Steve Tanner had, of course, ensured the most luxurious hotel for the Rock team and even Kelly whistled softly as they entered the foyer. Emily felt totally out of place in her Rock tracksuit and she could tell Sasha didn't like how fancy the place was. No doubt he thought it was distracting.

Sasha clapped once and everyone instantly fell silent, as they'd been trained to do. Sasha looked at each of his athletes. He was incredibly proud of them all.

"Today is one of the most important meets of your life and while you are competing individually I want you to support each other. Also have fun and enjoy yourselves. Nerves won't make things any easier." He pulled out three keys.

"Kaylie and Kelly you're in room 8" the two girls grinned at each other while Lauren looked put out. "Payson and Rachel, room 5." Rachel looked ecstatic, she idolised Payson, and Payson put her arm around the younger girl's shoulder. "And Emily and Lauren, room 12."

A year ago Emily would have protested but she knew Sasha would have thought about the room placements carefully. They might seem trivial but a roommate could either make your competition experience amazing or completely ruin it. As much as she detested the idea of spending a week with Lauren Tanner, she could see Sasha's reasoning. Kaylie was fragile and she needed Kelly to support her. The national champion had been distant and insecure recently and Kelly was the only person who seemed to be able to make her come out of her shell. Someone needed to take Rachel through nationals as it was her first time and obviously Sasha was not going to make Payson room with Lauren.

"Take an hour to unpack and settle in, after dinner we'll have a team meeting and I'll have one on ones with you too so that you're ready for podium training. You are not to leave the hotel without my permission, eat anything not authorised by me or Mrs Keeler or do anything that will harm your own chances of doing well or those of your teammates. Clear?"

"Yes Sasha."

The other Rock girls went to their rooms. Emily stayed back; she knew Darby would want to talk to her. Her coach placed a hand on each of Emily's shoulders. "How are you feeling?"

Emily smiled nervously "excited, terrified, nauseous, apprehensive, proud, happy and impatient."

Darby laughed "well it's a shame you don't get tested on your vocabulary. I just want to say I'm proud of you. No matter what happens over the next couple of days, you have achieved so much. Now I want you to stay calm. You're going to have a lot of people doubting you and putting you down. You're going to get tired, you're going to get nervous, but you need to stay calm, forget everything but the exercise, and that I am here for you, 100%. These are the days of your life, make the most of them."

Emily's heart leapt to her throat at her coach's words. She and Darby had always had a relationship that was more friendship than coach and athlete and Emily sometimes forgot that Darby was a two time Olympic medallist. A tear ran down her cheek. It meant so much that Darby believed in her so completely.

"Yes coach."

Darby pulled Emily into a tight hug "and you're welcome to stay in my room if Lauren starts bugging you."

"Trust me, I may take you up on that."

Emily walked into her and Lauren's suite. There were two queen sized beds, a plasma screen TV, a mini-bar and a bookcase full of all the classics and a few not so classics that Emily loved. She raised an eyebrow – Miss Tanner had got her Dad to try and buy her way back into Emily's good books. It was a nice gesture but Emily wished that Lauren would learn that earning friendship didn't mean buying it. Lauren was on the phone when Emily walked in, she nodded at the taller girl and Emily went to take a shower.

Emily came back into the bedroom to see Lauren on the bed, glaring at her phone –eyes puffy: she'd obviously been crying. Emily wasn't one for confrontations so she didn't say anything, she just smiled at Lauren

"I'm making a tea, would you like one?"

Lauren scowled "I don't want your pity Kmetko." She snapped, sniffing.

Emily hid a smile behind her hand – Lauren's attitude reminded her of when Payson was first injured. Payson didn't put up with pity then either.

"Who said anything about pity? Chuck me the milk out of the fridge will you?" Being practical was generally the best way to deal with people when they were upset. Well that was Emily's philosophy.

Lauren smiled in spite of herself "fine!" she said all but chucking the milk at Emily. Emily just rolled her eyes and caught it easily and boiled the kettle.

"That was Dad on the phone" Lauren said dully.

"Yeah?"

"I told him that I was just going out there this week to do my best and have fun. I can't be bothered bringing anyone else down and I know I'm not the best and I've accepted that, what is important is that I do the best for me and just compete against myself rather than with others. He didn't take it well."

Emily gritted her teeth. Parents were not perfect, she knew that, but they were meant to love their kids not treat them like trophies.

"What did he say exactly? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"That he didn't invest thousands of dollars in the Rock to have a daughter as a loser and that I was unmotivated, lazy and he was very disappointed in me." Lauren was sobbing, big rasping sobs. It was moments like these that reminded Emily how fragile Lauren was. On the surface she had everything but when it came down to the most important thing, having people who loved her and cared about her, she was sorely lacking.

Emily silently walked over to Lauren and put her arms around her. "Well if it makes any difference, I'm proud of you. Gymnastics is all about pushing yourself as far as you can go. There will always be someone more naturally talented."

Lauren nodded. "I know, I've only just begun to realise that but it still feels like he punched me in the gut."

Emily gave Lauren one last tight hug "screw this, I'm making us hot chocolates." She stood up and opened their cupboard, "aha marshmellows! I won't tell if you don't."

Lauren gave a watery smile "it's a deal."

Kaylie stared at her phone. No missed calls, no texts. Ronnie had called her, Leo had called her, Austin had called her (Sasha had banned him from the girls' floor). Alex had promised he would call her but he hadn't. She bit back tears. Her father had always been her biggest supporter – if it wasn't for him she probably never would have beaten Genghi Cho but now that she wasn't on top anymore he seemed ambivalent. It was the same attitude he'd always had towards Leo, until Leo got a perfect SAT score. She'd always told Leo that he was imagining things when he said that Leo didn't care about him, but now she understood him totally.

Kaylie sighed, if she was Lauren or Payson, or even Emily she'd be able to shake it off. But she wasn't, her family meant so much to her. She looked over to Kelly. The older girl had gone to bed early. She'd been in a mood ever since Sheila had refused to talk to her. But Kaylie knew Kelly would kick arse tomorrow – she was used to Sheila screwing up and she just used her anger to make her performances more intense, more terrifying. Kaylie wasn't like that. Feeling fragile and scared, the national champion got into bed and turned out the light, she had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be one of the hardest days of her life.

XXX

"Welcome to day one of the 2012 National Championships, you're with Tim, Elfi and Al for the most important nationals this quadrennium. The teams are entering the stadium now, so Elfi, who should we look out for today?"

"Well Al as usual the USA is super deep but the most exciting gymnast here today is Rosa Reynolds. She's a first year senior and she seems unstoppable."

Tim butted in "and we've also got Andrea Conway and Haruko Ueda – they're reliable. Neither have particularly high start values but they can both hit where it counts."

Al nodded with pretend interest "and what about our 2011 Worlds team? It was certainly a mixed performance."

"Definitely, both USA qualifiers to the all around, Kelly Parker and Lauren Tanner didn't even finish in the top five. In fact Lauren Tanner seemed to be deliberately trying to sabotage Kelly, her own teammate! Both girls train at the Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Centre which is the USA's most controversial gym. To be honest I can't see Lauren Tanner on this Olympic team, the USA is too deep and she's too inconsistent. Kelly might make the team, just but she's got quite a few new girls to compete with."

"And what about Kelly and Lauren's teammates? The Rock surprised us last year with getting four girls to worlds, and they've brought four athletes to nationals other than Tanner and Parker, how do you rate their chances?"

"Well Kaylie Cruz, defending national champion trains at the Rock but she's looked shaky ever since her win. She was all over the place at podium training, and she's only training a Yurchenko 1 and ½ vault, a big downgrade from her Amanar. I wouldn't expect her to come anywhere near the podium today."

"Payson Keeler is another girl to watch out for, she came back from what we thought was a career ending injury to make the world team! The only problem was that she managed to injure herself again. I would like to see Payson on this team and I just really hope she can make it through a competition without hurting herself, she has lovely lines."

"So does her teammate Emily Kmetko, what happened with her, Tim?"

"Well nobody really knows, this girl was training at the Y in Fresno until she was 15, that's right 15! When Marty Walsh found her and brought her to the Rock, she had raw talent and was inconsistent. She then got arrested and dropped off the radar for about a year. I don't think she's going to get anywhere near the national team but it's a good human interest story."

Margi and Summer were sitting behind the commentators. The two women looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "You know, I almost feel sorry for those commentators. They are going to be proven _so _wrong." Margi said in her southern accent.

Summer sighed "I hope you're right."

"I know I am, my girl Emily is going to kill it today, just you watch." She hugged Jenna tightly. The little girl had been excited about watching gymnastics, more than any of her other foster children. It was good to see her happy, Jenna had had a rough start in life, Margi was half contemplating enrolling her in gymnastics.

XXX

Payson and Sasha pulled the rest of the team into a group huddle. "This is it ladies, keep calm and believe in yourselves. You have sacrificed much to be here." Sasha said quietly, he looked into Payson's eyes. The blonde girl was focused as usual, her eyes burning with anticipation: she truly was the most mentally tough athlete he'd ever coached. "Captain? Do you have anything to say?"

Payson nodded "a year ago we had a very wise person speak to us" she nodded in Kaylie's direction. "We were about to do the craziest thing in the world, take on a team miles better than us against the rules, we were all struggling but she told us that we should leave our fear and anxiety at the door and take our courage onto the podium." She paused, Payson really wanted this speech to encourage Kaylie, she was definitely feeling the pressure of being number one. "That is what we are going to do today. Yes, life sucks sometimes and yes there are a lot of people eager to see us fail but all that matters is that we are the Rock Rebels, we've got guts and we've got each other and that's what's going to make us stay strong today. After this Rock on we're going to leave all our anxieties and drama here and we are going to rock this tournament because that's what we do!" Payson looked around at each of her teammates, they had all come so far and she was incredibly proud of them, she held out her arm and her gym sisters put their hands on top of hers "Rock on!" they yelled.

The Rock girls were starting on floor, commonly regarded as the worst apparatus to start on because it meant finishing on beam. Emily was certain that Ellen Beals had been behind that piece of politics before she was fired. Emily was doubly sure that Ellen had deliberately suggested she go up first – earlier scores were marked harder. Before James this would have unnerved her but now she thought it was funny. She smiled and saluted the judges. Her music started and she let it take over her. She danced, enjoying every minute of it, her tumbling felt amazing too – her new body shape made it easier to find her centre of gravity. Finally she came out of her tumbling pass, just managing to say in bounds but with a big step, she gracefully lent into her final pose. She grinned, Emily had forgotten how much she adored gymnastics, Darby was right: it would always be a part of her. She saluted the judges and ran to hug her teammates.

The rest of the Rock girls performed their routines, Payson performed the routine of her life, Lauren had the most impressive tumbling of the rotation. Kaylie had an ok score and Kelly and Rachel had decent scores: floor was not a particularly strong event for either of them.

Kaylie sighed. She was never one for shutting everything out like Payson and Kelly could. She looked anxiously at her teammates they were calm and focused. Kaylie couldn't do that, not when she hadn't heard from her Dad, she needed her family around her. Kelly nudged her "we're moving" when Kaylie gave her a blank look Kelly rolled her eyes "to the vault, and you're up first."

"Oh right, duh sorry. I was just uh focusing."

Kelly looked concerned "are you ok?"

"Fine, I'm fine." Kaylie forced a smile and followed her friend.

Kaylie practiced her vault – she used to do two but her body couldn't handle that anymore. She warmed up her 1 and ½ twisting Yurchenko, she landed short and took a big step backwards. She tried to bring herself to care but she couldn't.

After the other girls warmed up, Kaylie got ready to go. Sasha came over and put a firm hand on Kaylie's shoulder. Kaylie turned to look at her coach. He looked at her hard, "tell me what's wrong." He said softly in a voice that left no room for argument.

"Nothing I'm fine."

Sasha glared at her and Kaylie cringed "it's nothing, it's just that Dad's not here."

Sasha resisted the urge to swear and hit something. Couldn't Alex Cruz see how amazing his daughter was? He was going to beat that prick to a pulp the second this day of competition was over. But he had to keep calm.

"Kaylie listen to me" he said gently, "you are an amazing gymnast, I want you to focus on everyone here. We are all rooting for you. Try and shut anything negative out ok?"

Kaylie bit her lip and nodded. Even though she knew she couldn't – she drew energy from everyone else around her. She walked up and saluted the judges. Her handspring onto the vaulting table felt weird she got one and a half twists round but landed deeply and took a huge step forward this time, almost losing her balance. She was almost in tears, her vault was one of the least difficult in the whole competition and she had really needed to stick it.

Payson walked up to her teammate and hugged her "it's ok" she said. She waited till Kaylie had dried her eyes before letting her out of the hug, so that the cameras couldn't see her tears. Then she nodded for Kelly to take over comforting Kaylie while she went to cheer on Rachel.

The rest of vault went well – Payson wasn't looking at the scoreboard. She never did. She was a rock and didn't let anything shake her, not even the uneven bars. Well that's what she wanted everyone to think. The other girls had done well on the apparatus. Emily particularly so and Lauren had stayed on – like many power gymnast Lauren didn't like bars. She beamed and saluted the judges, no one needed to know how nervous she was. Once she'd mounted the bars everything felt better, her body switched into autopilot and before she knew it she'd dismounted. She went to get a drink of water, she was putting her drink bottle away when the stadium erupted in a huge cheer. She looked around "what happened?"

Kelly rolled her eyes "Keeler – you just got a 9.9 execution score for your routine." The shorter girl was grinning, genuinely happy for her captain.

Payson smiled her dream was coming true. She looked at Sasha – his face contained so many emotions, and she'd never seen him look happier. There would be time to celebrate after beam.

Lauren glared at the beam, it used to be her safe place, where no one could touch her but Kaylie had recently overtaken her on the apparatus and it was Lauren's turn to reclaim what was hers. The other girls had done well. Payson was leading the field by 2 points, much to everyone's surprise. Rosa was in second and if they both hit tomorrow no one would be able to touch them. Lauren saluted the judges with her usual half smirk, half grin. She threw everything into her performance, she used her anger at her father to keep her standing Arabian under control, her happiness at finally being accepted at the Rock to guide her dance elements and she threw her dismount for her teammates who had stuck by her. She stuck her Patterson dismount, the first time she'd ever done so.

XXX

Sasha was satisfied, almost. He looked up at the leader board. Payson was in first, as she should be. Rosa and Andrea were second and third, Kelly fourth, Emily fifth, Lauren eighth, Kaylie ninth and Rachel 15th. Emily's fifth place was a huge accomplishment. All his girls had done well, apart from Kaylie, she was capable of doing much better. He'd let Ronnie comfort Kaylie. He walked to Austin's room and banged his fist hard against the door, several times.

A very disgruntled Austin opened it "hey, I was trying to get an early night...oh hey coach" he looked confused.

"Well you've had a change of plan – you're coming on a road trip."

"Um I don't know if you've noticed but we're kind of in the middle of nationals here. Are you okay?" Austin noticed for the first time how livid Sasha looked.

"I'm fine Kaylie, however is not. And you're coming to beat the crap out of Alex Cruz with me!"

"Is he not here?"

Sasha silently shook his head. And Austin growled.

"I'm in."

"Good man"

XXX

Kelly was in awe of Payson Keeler, not that she'd ever admit it. The girl had been composed all day, comforting and motivating the other Rock girls and encouraging girls from other clubs too. Growing up with her mother she'd never really understood what people meant when they called her a class act. But now she did. She decided that she was going to tell her that. She'd never been one for congratulating the opposition but Kelly was turning over a new leaf starting now.

Nervously she knocked on Payson's door. Payson was a self confessed nana and she'd gone up to her room early. There was no answer. She knocked again with the same result. Kelly shrugged. She was probably busy.

"Oh hey teamie." Lauren said, strutting down the hallway. She and Kelly still had a weird relationship. There was only so much time two such huge egos could be around each other.

Kelly grinned "hey Loz." She quipped making the blonde girl scowl. "I just wanted to catch up with Pay but I think she's asleep."

"She shouldn't be – I went to get some new headphones for her because both of ours were broken." Lauren opened the door, paused and whimpered "oh my God."

"What?" Kelly barged past the shorter girl. She came to a halt, Payson was lying on the floor unconscious. She knelt down beside her captain "she's breathing, I think she's passed out but we'd better call an ambulance." She cringed at how perfunctory her words sounded. She expected Lauren to have a snarky comeback but the blonde girl, face ashen just nodded, pulled out her phone and dialled.

**A/N Hey y'all sorry for the long wait! And thank you for all of your reviews. And by popular demand Jordan and Wendy won't be appearing, at least not as regulars. So, what did you think? Who do you think will win nationals? Who do you want to win?**

**Also I'm going to do an outtake with Pay and Sasha either before the next TPP chapter or after, because as you can imagine Sasha isn't very pleased with himself when he finds out about Payson. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Shine on**

Sasha turned the key in the ignition and floored the accelerator before realising his truck was still in neutral. He swore under his breath as the engine screeched at him.

Austin raised one eyebrow "smooth."

Sasha glared at him, before slowly putting the truck into gear and painstakingly reversing out of the carpark. "Better for you grandma?" He asked icily. He was in a rotten mood as it was and Tucker's attitude wasn't helping any. He knew he should ease up on him – Austin had done wonders for Kaylie but one of his elites having a boyfriend still made him nervous.

"Much. So do you know where we're going?"

"I think so, Kelly mentioned that Alex was staying in a hotel about half an hour away on business." Sasha's voice clearly showed his disgust.

Austin resisted the urge to punch something "what the hell? Kaylie never told me that!"

"She doesn't know, she thinks he's still in New York."

Austin didn't say anything he just glared straight ahead. Sasha knew he was mad. It was exactly the same expressionless face Payson had when she was livid.

"I'll hold him down for you while you punch him if you like."

"Thanks coach."

They drove in silence for a while. Both men were introverts, despite Austin's press personality. Sasha abruptly stopped, slightly brushing the curb, making Austin question for the umpteenth time how on earth Sasha managed to get his licence. "Ready?" Sasha asked.

Austin nodded and the two men walked into reception where they turned heads. The lady at reception was only too happy to tell two incredibly good looking men where Alex Cruz's room was and they took the lift to the fourth floor.

"You know I've had to do this before?" Sasha said casually, too casually.

Austin raised a quizzical eyebrow. A skill he'd been trying to perfect for some time.

"He bailed on her before the China meet too."

Austin was silent, he curled his hands into fists. Normally he was a pretty calm guy but the one thing he couldn't stand were guys who didn't take care of the women in their lives, it was why he had punched Damon in front of the Rock so long ago and why he felt like doing the same to Alex. "You'd better go in before me, I'm not sure I can control myself."

"Neither am I" Sasha said gravely.

"But you're old"

"Oh you are so going to regret that when we get back to Boulder!" Sasha joked before knocking on the door. There was a bit of a wait then Alex Cruz hesitantly opened it.

"What the-" he said when he saw Austin and Sasha.

"Is this a bad time?" Sasha said sweetly "good – thanks for inviting us in." He said without waiting for a reply.

Alex rolled his eyes and motioned them in. Austin made himself at home on one of the couches while Sasha shut the door behind them, he doubted Alex would bolt but he wasn't going to take any chances. Once Alex had taken the reclining chair Sasha sat next to Austin on the couch.

"I-I couldn't make it today." Alex stuttered when Sasha and Austin didn't say anything.

"Busy?" Sasha asked casually.

"Extremely."

"That's fascinating, especially since Payson's father who lives in Minnesota and doesn't have a flexible job made it and Emily's godmother who lives in LA not only came but brought all of her foster kids with her. But what is really interesting is that your only job is managing the odd athlete, doing the odd press appearance and spending your millions earned on _baseball_ and yet you can't make it across town to see your daughter in one of the most important meets of her life." Sasha couldn't help but have a dig at what he thought was the most pointless and easy sport on the planet.

Alex gave Sasha a long, cold stare. His eyes seemed empty, it creeped Sasha out. After awhile the tall man sighed. "I can't bring myself to go. I've been watching her on TV, seeing her so timid and unsure of herself. I used to know every move in every single routine. But now..."

"You can have that again. Kaylie will forgive you." Austin said, clearly implying that Austin wouldn't.

Alex stood up, angry now "can't you see that this is my fault! I pushed her and pushed her. I ignored you both about the anorexia and now she'll never be great again. She could have been World Champion, Olympic Champion even and now she probably won't even make the team! I've ruined her dream!"

Sasha put the tips of his fingers together and lent back in his chair "so what?"

"Huh?"

"So what if she'll never be great. What's the big deal?"

Alex stuttered, Sasha had lost it. He'd always heard rumours about him being eccentric but now he was just acting nuts. "All her hard work will be for nothing."

Sasha glared at Alex "You're wrong about three things, firstly Kaylie can still be great, she is just a gymnast that needs her _family_ around her to succeed, secondly if she doesn't make it all her hard work will still pay off, she will have gained self confidence and self discipline and thirdly how does Kaylie not succeeding have anything to do at all with your role as her father? You should be at the stadium supporting her whether she comes first or thirtieth because she's your kid, not just your athlete."

Alex put his head in his hands. Which made Sasha mad

"For God's sakes man, grow up, go shower and get changed we're leaving in twenty. I'm not having one of my athletes have a terrible meet because one egotistic has been doesn't even know the meaning of the word father. And Austin, order me some room service I'm starving."

XXX

Kim thought that her worst nightmare would be one of her girls being seriously injured in gymnastics but somehow Lauren's shaky phone call saying that Payson had collapsed and was on her way to hospital was a thousand times worse. At least with Pay's back they knew what was wrong. This waiting was worse than anything. She lent her head on Mark's shoulder while he wrapped his strong arms around her, but not even this embrace that had protected her so many times could easy her worry.

"She'll be okay, it's going to be ok." Mark whispered for the umpteenth time, tears rolling down his cheeks. He loved his girls more than life itself. Payson was his pride, Becca his joy and he was terrified about what the doctors were going to say. And he was also baffled as to why Sasha wasn't here. He'd had a tumultuous relationship with the man but he'd always has his kid's best interests at heart.

"I've just called Darby" Emily said, appearing at the Keelers' bench. The brunette looked tired but she was totally calm. Mark was astonished at her strength but, he realised, Emily would have been through much worse when Brian was paralysed. "Sasha told her earlier in the evening that he had somewhere urgent to go and that she was in charge. She's on her way now."

Kaylie narrowed her eyes. "Sasha's not here?" she asked anxiously. Sasha had left before and he'd only come back because of Payson.

Kelly put an arm around her friend "he'll have a reason." She was trying to think of something comforting to say but she couldn't think of anything, she was relieved when the doctor came in and broke the silence.

"Keeler family?" He asked, clearly confused as to whether the other Rock girls were Pay's siblings.

Kim shrugged "near enough to, what's wrong?" She asked, fearing the worst.

The doctor half smiled "well it's nothing major, your girl just has exhaustion. All she needs is a couple of weeks relaxation and then she can gradually build back up to a regular routine. Obviously she can't work as hard as she has been."

"That's bull!" Kelly said angrily "I don't know if you realise but Payson is heading towards the Olympics! She can't slow down and there's no way this is just exhaustion, we all train pretty similar hours and we're all fine!"

Kim nodded at Kelly "thanks for the diagnosis doctor, can I see my kid now?"

"Of course. She's a stubborn thing, she wants to leave straight away. Apparently she has a big competition tomorrow."

"Stubborn doesn't even start to explain Payson" Kim murmured. There was no way in hell her kid was competing if it meant she was going to hurt herself. On the other hand – her dreams were about to come true and Kim wanted her to achieve them so badly.

Mark and Kim stood together, his arm around her shoulder. Kim reached out her hand to Becca who took it. Becca seemed really shaken.

Kim's heart rose to her mouth seeing Payson in a hospital bed, her face was ashen but there was a fire in her eyes, she was pissed.

"Don't look so worried Mum, I'm fine. You just need to sign the discharge papers and then we can go."

"Nice try." Mark snapped "Payson I'm worried sick about you. You work too hard, you support all the other girls and you've been doing too many endorsements."

Payson laughed. It sounded hollow "I'm fine, I was just tired is all."

"Stop lying!" Becca snapped suddenly, causing both her parents to look at their youngest. "Tell them or I will."

Payson glared at her sister "you promised you wouldn't tell"

"Well I didn't know you were going to end up in hospital did I?"

"Ok you two, tell me what's going on." Mark said angrily. His kids hardly ever fought, Becca was too easy going and Payson was usually too caught up in training. And he hated the idea of any secrets being kept from him and Kim, they'd always tried to be really open with their girls and they expected the same in return.

"Payson's been training an extra hour and a half every morning." Becca blurted out.

"What?" Kim was mad "you told me you were only getting there half an hour early and that it was only extra ballet and yoga. I'm very disappointed that you lied to me Payson." For the millionth time she wondered if all this pain and effort was really worth it. Her daughter had worked herself into hospital twice in as many years for the sport. If she'd collapsed during competition she could have been seriously hurt, especially with her back.

A rare tear escaped down each of Payson's cheeks "I just didn't want to let you all down. You've all sacrificed so much for me and I wanted to prove to you that it was worth it."

Mark walked over to his daughter and gently held her hand, "Pay, we _are_ proud of you. Proud of all the effort you've put in, of the way you support your teammates and the way you look out for us. I want you to make the team and succeed but it makes no difference to me – I couldn't be any prouder than I already am."

"Thanks Daddy."

"So how did you manage to sneak past Sasha so early in the morning with the Airstream right by the gym?" Kim asked curiously. "He's not exactly unprotective of you girls."

"Oh Sasha was with me – I asked for some extra training."

"Really? How nice of him." Mark said very quietly "excuse me I need to make a phone call." He kissed Payson on the cheek and walked out.

"Where is Sasha anyways?" Payson asked. In all the confusion she'd just assumed he was waiting in the hospital somewhere and wanting her to speak with her family first.

"He's not here Pay, Darby said he had to do something important, and he's left her in charge."

Payson groaned.

XXX

Darby looked at the four girls before her. She didn't feel she really deserved to coach them after what happened last year but here she was. She'd let them all go in quickly to see Payson and then called them back into the now deserted waiting room. Visiting hours were long over and each of them was sitting nervously on a chair around Darby. Darby was amazed at how much they relied on Payson – it helped her understand the pressure that Payson was under.

"You have done incredibly well to get this far. I hope you all know that." She said seriously. "But you're not there yet. I think you know that too."

Kelly, Lauren and Kaylie looked at her mutinously, Emily nodded at her encouragingly to keep going which made Darby smile. That girl made her so proud.

"So I need you all to focus" she looked pointedly at Kaylie.

"What's the point, we'll never be able to do this without Payson or Sasha." Kaylie muttered under her breath.

Darby glared at the girls "I don't ever want to hear that attitude from any of you, is that clear? Do you think Payson wants you to crumple up and headcase tomorrow? Huh? Isn't she always the one pushing you guys to do better? I'm going to take you all home and you're going to go straight to bed and then tomorrow morning when we get up you girls are going to have the meet of your lives. Is that clear?"

Kaylie, Lauren and Kelly were shocked into nodding "yes Darby" they said in unison.

"Not good enough, show me you care"

"Yes Darby!"

"Better. Now go give Pay one more hug, and you know she's probably still going to kick arse tomorrow if the doctors let her out."

The girls left smiling. Emily felt like laughing, she was completely shocked too the first time Darby had been tough on her.

Once the girls had said goodbye Darby went in to see Payson. She was apprehensive, she knew Payson was not a fan of her coaching techniques. Payson nodded at Darby when she entered "Mum, Becca could you leave us for a sec?"

"I know I'm not Sasha –" Darby started.

"I'm glad." Payson said sardonically. "But carry on."

"I just want to tell you that I'm here for you. If you want to compete and the doctors let you out, and you convince me at training tomorrow morning that you're fit I'm not going to stop you. I know you probably don't believe me but I really admire you Pay and you've come too far to be let down again. But if you're not fit you are not competing, you are not going to hurt yourself again. Clear?"

"I'll be fit. I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me, do that and I won't even sign your forms to let you onto the floor tomorrow. How do you feel really?"

Payson raised her eyebrows. Sasha had clearly rubbed off on Darby. "Ok I'm exhausted. Every effort feels like I'm running uphill, my legs feel like lead and I've got a massive headache."

Darby nodded. She'd felt the same way leading up to nationals. "Right, are you dizzy at all?"

Payson shook her head "no ma'am"

"Ok if the doctor lets you out you can come to training tomorrow – we'll do the minimum training, then you'll nap before competition, and you won't do interviews before competition. We're also going to water down your routines a bit" she held up a hand to silence Payson's protests "you're two points ahead of the field, and to be fair you just need to place. Our main goal is getting you onto the national team and rested before trials. So you're only going to be vaulting at double twist, if you try your Amanar I'll pull you from the other events. I want a double tuck dismount off beam, not the Patterson and we'll take the punch front out of floor."

Payson wanted to yell at Darby to tell her she was being ridiculous but she was so tired that she just nodded. All she wanted to do was sleep.

"Good." Darby lent over to hug the blonde girl "I'm taking the others home now but I'll be back, but you _need_ to rest. Your body's been pushing itself to hard, give it a break."

"Thanks Darby"

"You're welcome Pay"

"And Darby?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for talking to the girls. They're going to be ok tomorrow. I know it."

Darby smiled. "Well it wouldn't be the Rock without some sort of drama at nationals anyway."

XXX

Kaylie rubbed her eyes it had been a long day. She wiped off her makeup and let her hair out of its ponytail. Kelly had decided to rent _Casablanca _so that they could relax after the hospital. Kelly hated it but she knew it was one of Kaylie's favourites. She wrapped herself in her duvet and went to join Kelly on the couch.

"Finally, you're ready child. Honestly you don't even need to wear makeup!"

"Some of us actually care about what we look like in front of the cameras, and if I remember correctly you spent forty minutes in the shower this morning whereas I only spent thirty."

Kelly was about to retort when there was a knock at the door.

"Just leave it" Kelly said.

"It might be someone important." Kaylie got up and opened the door. She covered her mouth to stop herself yelling with happiness when she saw her father there; Austin and Sasha standing behind him. Sasha had a black eye.

"Hey princess." Alex said quietly and Kaylie ran into his arms.

"Mind if I borrow your athlete for awhile coach?" Alex asked Sasha.

"Go right ahead."

Kelly walked up to them "you two have this room, I'll go room with Rachel tonight. She probably wants someone to room with anyway – she was a bit shaken up before." Kelly looked like she was about to cry. She shoved a few things into her gym bag and walked down the hall.

Sasha nodded at Alex and Austin to go into Kaylie's room while he followed Kelly. "Parker, I thought I said no cruising the corridors after lights out." He said jokingly.

Kelly turned around to face him. Sasha was expecting her to show some moxy but she looked upset. "Sasha, please I'm not in the mood, let me keep my dignity. I don't want to cry all over you." A lone tear ran down her cheek.

Sasha put his hands on Kelly's shoulders. "Talk to me."

"You'll think I'm stupid."

"I have thought you were many things Kelly but stupid was never one of them."

That led her to give him a small smile. "I just feel like no one cares about me. Keeler and Kmetko have super supportive families, Lauren has her Dad and Summer and now you go and fetch Mr Cruz to help Kaylie but no one seems to notice that no one has bothered to see me. I know it's tacky and immature but you asked what was wrong."

Sasha took a deep breath, sometimes he forgot KP had feelings, she was that tough. "I can't imagine what your life must be like Kelly but if it's any consolation – I've got your back. If you feel you need your mother there I can go and get her too."

Kelly snorted "it's ok"

"That's what I thought"

"I miss her though, the way she used to be before gymnastics took over, and Dad left."

"She loves you, Kelly. I've seen her; she just doesn't know how to show it."

"People keep telling me that, but I think if she loved me she would have at least called."

"Give her time; she's still mad about rehab. Which was the right thing to do by the way." Kelly had guts.

"Thanks coach." Kelly's eyes looked a bit less watery now.

"Anytime, did you want to talk about anything else?"

"Yeah actually, who blacked your eye?"

Sasha chuckled "that's classified. See you in the morning – I imagine Darby's told you what practice will involve."

XXX

Emily woke early. She went to have a shower, she rolled her eyes, she could hear Lauren still snoring through the wall. Classy.

She showered and dressed in a training leo and tracksuit. She woke Lauren up and then went down to breakfast. Damon, being the perfect person he was had already got her some eggs and milk. She kissed him quickly. She was allowed to date Damon, only because Darby was so insistent on it and she didn't want to rub it in with the others.

"How are you feeling?"

"Terrified and excited and happy to see you."

"I'm not going to comment on the order of those."

"Good." They sat down at a table in the corner, away from everyone else. The Rock girls had caused a bit of sensation at the hotel, not much but enough to make Emily uncomfortable.

Damon didn't force her to talk, he knew Emily liked to focus, even before practice. He just held her hand over the table. Emily grinned and gripped his back. She understood. He was there behind her no matter what.

Margi walked over to them, Jenna was holding her hand and Larissa was walking behind them. "Ready to go?"

"I am, the others are I think, apart from Lauren."

"I'll get her." For some reason Larissa and Lauren got on well. Lauren probably sympathised with the fact that Larissa didn't have a mother and Larissa loved Lauren's brassness.

They arrived at the practice and Jenna insisted on staying. Darby relented and let the girl stay. She was uber good at gymnastics. Payson and Rachel had taught her to backflip and Emily was just happy to see her smile. It was like when Kelly smiled, it didn't happen often but when it did it lit up the whole room.

Payson and Sasha were already there training. They looked very serious, Emily wasn't sure what had gone on between them last night but she was willing to bet that Sasha was mad at himself. He also had a fairly impressive black eye. Emily was mad at herself too – she should have paid more attention to how tired Payson had been looking. Payson vaulted a double twisting Yurchenko – her form was impeccable as always but she wasn't as high and deep as usual. Emily was glad she'd downgraded, she could have injured herself really badly if she'd tried the Amanar.

Emily walked over to the beam and practiced her routine. Her mind was all over the place but all the drama of last night meant that she didn't have time to be nervous and she was fine.

"Good" Darby said quietly, making Emily smile. "But not good enough, again." Emily nodded and did as Darby asked. After five routines, Rachel was allowed on the beam. The rest of the warm up went fairly well.

Darby called them all in "you did well today girls – go home, relax and we'll meet again at 4.30 to get ready for competition."

Emily piggybacked Jenna to the minvans where Margi and Summer were waiting to pick the team up. Margi's face lit up to Jenna having such a good time. "Hey baby – how did the big girls' practice go?"

"Good! They can fly! I want to be able to fly like them one day."

Margi kissed the girl on the head, "well sugar we might have to look into that when we get home!"

The trip back to the hotel was quiet, everyone zoning in on their routines, removing the possibility of any last minute mental errors. The others all got out of the van, Kaylie holding Jenna's hand. Emily started to follow them when Margi asked her to wait.

"What's up?" Emily asked her godmother

"Just a random question, if you don't mind me asking, but how long ago did Darby have her baby?"

"Um I guess 8 years – maybe nine. She doesn't talk about her much, I think she misses her all the time. She didn't have an open adoption like I did."

"So it was a girl."

"Uh huh"

"And she was living in Minnesota at the time?"

Emily frowned. If anyone but Margi was asking her these questions she would have refused to answer but Margi had done so much for her. "Yeah I think so."

Margi nodded and was silent for a moment before saying "don't you think Jenna looks an awful lot like Darby?"

Emily was shocked "I guess she does, her voice is quite similar too."

"Don't say anything to anyone for the moment but I'm going to have a poke around and see what I can find. Because if Jenna is Darby's daughter – I think it would be really good for both of them. Jenna's had a rough life and I think Darby would welcome her daughter back don't you?"

"Yeah I do." Emily grinned "if you're right this is so exciting!"

XXX

The cheers when the Rock girls were announced were considerably louder than they were on night one. Payson had captured the crowd's hearts and Kelly and Kaylie were always crowd favourites. Kaylie was beaming – she had her whole family in the crowds, and Payson was ok. She channelled that energy into her own confidence. Emily did the same, she looked up at Chloe, Damon, Brian, Margi, Larissa and Jenna and waved, and then she blew a kiss to Summer who had James on her lap. Sure it was cheesy but what the hell. Sasha had a firm hand on Kelly's shoulder, he had her back and although she would never say anything, now was her chance to overtake Payson. Not that she'd be able to beat her after nationals when she was at full strength but a win was a win. Lauren waved happily at Summer and Steve, her arm around Rachel's shoulders. Payson just forced herself to walk out with the rest of the team, she was so tired she could hardly stand but she knew her adrenaline would kick in once she started competing.

"Come in girls" she said quietly, she was too tired to shout. "This is the night of our lives, I want all of you to go out and do your best. I believe in you. Now give me your fiercest Rock On!"

**A/N so Darby finally finding who her kid is– too cheesy? Probably but I love cheese :p. Sorry I couldn't fit day two of nationals in here, the chapter was getting too long. The result is, well not what you'd expect, I don't think. But remember we have the Olympics still. **

**Also for all you Pay/ Sasha shippers there will be an outtake! Including how Sasha gets his black eye. Who do you think gave it to him?**

**As always let me know what you thought! Have a good weekend y'all.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Invictus**

Day 2 of nationals was a blur for Emily. She remembered Payson cheering them on at the start and how she wanted so badly to do well to make Payson happy as well as her family. She remembered Kaylie grinning the entire time, winning the hearts of the crowd with her beautiful beam and floor. She remembered Lauren nailing her two vaults and her and her father seeming genuinely happy. She remembered Payson battling through every. single. routine. And still managing to smile. Although it was blindingly obvious to all the Rock girls how tired she was. She remembered Rosa falling twice on her floor routine.

She remembered Sasha picking up Kelly and putting her on his shoulders after her floor routine, the penultimate routine of the day and Kelly seeming happier than she had in months. The crowd went crazy when Kelly finished her routine. Finally it was Emily's turn on floor. Sasha put Kelly down and the other Rock girls hugged her, then they started to cheer Emily on. Sasha and Darby walked over to Emily, they gave her a fairly long pep talk but all she could remember was Darby saying "I believe in you" Emily cherished the feeling of the music taking over her as she twisted through the air, landing her tumbling passes and jumping into her leaps.

And then it was all over – finally each girl rose from their competition mindframes and looked up at the scoreboard. Kelly was in first, her consistency had won her second national championship, Payson's score was right behind her. The 'dynamic duo' as they'd been called as juniors, were back on top again. But what shocked Emily the most was her own score. Somehow she was in third! True Rosa's falls had put her out of the running but Emily had never ranked that high in a national or international competition. Ever. She started crying, she knew she was meant to be bubbly and happy and gracious for the cameras but she couldn't help it. She'd finally finally done it, she'd come back and now people were going to have to take notice of her. She looked up to Damon in the stands and mouthed 'I love you', he grinned back, tears running down his own cheeks.

Kaylie had made it through nationals, she was so happy that it was over and done with. She'd even enjoyed performing her floor routine, and she hadn't felt happy doing gymnastics in a long time. Seventh place wasn't good but she'd made the national team invited to Olympic trials and come second on beam and third on floor. She felt someone clap her on the shoulder, she turned around to see her dad, somehow he'd managed to make it down on the floor, she raised an eyebrow.

"I borrowed Darby's coaching pass" Alex said by way of explanation, holding up the plastic card with Darby beaming.

Kaylie snorted "because you look so alike."

"We are both incredibly good looking, yes."

Kaylie smiled awkwardly, she didn't want to mention her performance – she was pleased but she was certain Alex wouldn't be.

"You did well today Kales, I'm proud of you." Alex hugged his daughter "your floor routine was amazing and you handled the pressure so well."

"But I didn't place."

"Doesn't matter, you're my kid –I'm proud of you no matter what, I hope you know that."

Kaylie bit her lip. She was about to respond politely, as she'd been taught but she decided to take a leaf out of Kelly's book and be brutally honest. "Actually I don't, Dad. I feel sometimes that you like me because I'm a champion who happens to be your kid, rather than loving me because I'm your kid, irrespective of where I finish."

Alex recoiled, Kaylie had always been his princess, no matter what he did, she'd still come back to him. He looked at the young woman before him, because that's what she was now. Not a little girl in a leotard capable of incredible of acrobatics but a person with feelings who had overcome incredible adversity to get where she was. He couldn't lie to her "you're right. But not anymore, I promise."

Kaylie looked him in the eye. That was the most honest her dad had ever been with her, she wasn't one to punish people. Especially when they admitted they were wrong. She grinned "sounds good!" She jumped into his arms and he swung her around. Alex cringed at how light she was. He saw Sasha looking at him, the blond man nodded his approval, making Alex smile, relieved.

XXX

It had been two weeks since nationals, and there was only one week to go before Olympic trials. Darby had never been so exhausted in her life. Sure the process was tiring, but as an athlete you just had to worry about yourself, now she had to manage Emily – support her in her decision not to go pro, build her consistency that could only be done through sheer numbers and on top of all that referee a yelling match between Payson, Mark Keeler and Sasha about whether Sasha should be allowed to coach Payson. Darby was quietly impressed by Pay's moxy. Payson had won in the end, with the condition that Darby be present at all training sessions and that Payson was only allowed to do as much training as the other girls. Kaylie had really stepped up helping Payson, the former national champion knew what it felt like when your body had had enough so she spent most of her practices watching Payson like a hawk. Darby was impressed by her maturity.

Darby trudged up the stairwell to her apartment. It was nothing fancy but it was local and it wasn't like she was there much anyway. She dropped her gym bag on her bedroom floor before making herself a cup of tea. She couldn't believe how fast Emily's comeback had gone, in six weeks the Olympics would be over and Emily would probably go off to college or do something amazing, girls like Emily didn't stay down for long – she was too smart and too special to lead an ordinary life. Darby suddenly felt scared, once Emily finished up with gymnastics there would be huge hole in Darby's life. Sure, Sasha might let her stay on to help coach at the Rock but it wasn't the same, she'd been with Emily right through her comeback, and with the other Rock girls too. The juniors coming through were talented enough but it wasn't the same. She forced herself to stop thinking about that – she still had two huge hurdles to help Emily with – trials and the games themselves, now was not the time to be worrying about the future. She turned the TV on, mindlessly flicking through the channels, there was never anything good on. She got up to find a book to read but was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in" she called; Darby was never one to lock her door. To be fair, any potential burglar would be stupid to try and take on a former Olympic gymnast.

"Hi!" Margi called out "where are you hiding?"

"In the lounge, just keep going straight ahead." Darby grinned when Margi entered. She went over to hug the older lady. The two had a lot in common – they both made a living out of building up people and helping them to succeed. And they had both spent many sleepless nights worrying about Emily.

"How are you holding up? You and Sasha seem more run down than the girls!"

Darby grinned, Margi always said that she looked run down. "I'm fine, you know me – I'm too hyper for my own good."

Margi chuckled, she could tell her friend was worrying about the future but she wasn't one to get down about it. "Ain't that the truth, sit yourself down, girl I'll put the kettle on" Margi said, as if it was her apartment, not Darby's.

Darby followed the older woman into the kitchen and got out a pack of biscuits and casually placed them on a plate. It wasn't a particularly exciting effort but what the hell, she wasn't a domestic goddess or anything.

"So what brings this pleasant surprise?" Darby asked casually.

A strange expression crossed over Margi's face "let's head back into the lounge and we can chat there." She said, too calmly. She picked up the two mugs of tea and Darby followed her with the biscuits.

Once Darby was seated comfortably with her tea Margi pulled a wad of documents out of her satchel. She took a deep breath. "I don't want to be presumptuous, D, so if you don't want to know about this or you think I'm out of line, tell me to stop and I promise I'll never bring it up with you again and I won't mention it to anyone." She was using the tone of voice that Darby had heard her use when she was working with clients.

"Ok, shoot – you're scaring me a little." Darby said awkwardly.

Margi nodded slowly. "One of my foster children, Jenna is nine years old. She's had a fairly rough time of things – she was originally adopted but her adoptive mother died when she was just a year old and her adoptive father was not...suitable. I'm sorry I can't go into the details, it makes me too angry. Anyway she went through a string of foster homes and she eventually ended up with me. I'm sure you remember her."

"Of course, she's a great little tumbler actually."

"Well she's been miserable really ever since she's been with me. She puts up walls, occasionally she would smile and I'd feel like we'd finally be getting somewhere and then she'd hide away again because someone was mean to her at school or she saw someone with two parents."

"That's terrible." Darby hadn't noticed how miserable the girl had been. She had seemed really happy playing around in the gym when she'd come over to watch Emily compete in nationals.

Margi nodded again, Darby could tell she was getting nervous about something. "Well when I brought her over for nationals, something changed. She watched the girls doing gymnastics and she seemed excited. Emily was playing around with her and she learned how to cartwheel and do three back handsprings in a row almost straight away. Emily made a couple of remarks about how impressed she was by Jenna. And then I noticed something."

"What did you notice?" Darby asked nervously, although she already half knew. Perhaps she'd known all along but it was only this long, drawn out conversation that was putting it all together.

"That Jenna looked uncannily like you."

"Oh God."

"I know I should have checked with you first but I wanted to make sure before I got anyone's hopes up. Or fears I guess, I'm really sorry Darby I didn't want to pry, but Emily had mentioned that you'd given your daughter up for adoption and I had to check. I care about Jenna so much, I felt it would be unfair to her if I didn't."

"Of course."

"So this confirms that your daughter is Jenna Smith – you forfeited your parental rights two weeks after her birth in favour of Anna and John Smith, who also chose Jenna's name. Since her mother's death and father having his parenthood rights revoked she is now a ward of the state."

Darby started crying. She had always tried not to think about her daughter – gymnastics had pushed her out of her mind quite well and then she'd just got into the habit of not even thinking it over, it hurt too much. "What have I done? I've ruined her life. I was told that she'd be happy and well cared for."

Margi switched into social worker mode and went over to hug Darby tightly, Darby cried into Margi's shoulder, long rasping tears that shook her whole body that had waited 9 years to be cried.

XXX

Darby woke up to the sun streaming into the gap between her curtains. She frowned. That was weird, usually she was up well before dawn. Emily was not going to appreciate the fact that she was late for training, she groaned and got out of bed. Then the memory of what happened yesterday came crashing down around her, she bit her bottom lip and forced herself to get dressed. It was only through the sheer discipline she'd learned from gymnastics that she was able to bring herself to go and get breakfast. She couldn't believe that her daughter had had such a rough upbringing. To her surprise someone was cooking breakfast – she smelled pancakes and bacon.

"Good morning sunshine." Emily said turning around holding a plate with three pancakes, generously covered in maple syrup, banana and small strips of bacon.

Darby usually would have grinned at the sight of her breakfast but all she could muster was a very faint smile. "Em, I don't mean to sound rude but what are you doing here. You've got training. _We've _got training actually."

Emily sighed. "Margi told me about last night. Some things are more important than training. I figured you might need some sort of moral support. We can talk, or not talk, whatever. But you should eat, you look terrible."

"Thanks"

"You're welcome"

"Question, how the hell did Sasha let you out of training?"

Emily laughed "Margi talked to him, or yelled at him rather. Sasha's a brave guy, he's not suicidal though."

Darby nodded. She was amazed at how mature Emily was. Of all the athletes she'd coached Emily had been through the most and it showed in moments like these in her ability to look outside her own problems and look out for others. Silently she pulled her plate towards herself and slowly ate a bit. Emily sat down next to her at the breakfast bar with her porridge. Emily didn't say anything – Darby appreciated that.

"I think I know what I feel like doing today." Darby said hollowly.

"Yeah?"

"Going to the gym and beating the crap out of a boxing bag, keen to join?"

Emily grinned"You bet."

XXX

Sasha had a thick crop of hair, inherited from his mother. Unfortunately that would change very soon given the rate at which he was pulling at it watching his elites train. They had six days and five training sessions before trials and so far one girl wasn't there, one looked exhausted, one angry, one distracted and only Kelly was focused. Her national championship really boosted her confidence. He nodded after she landed her Amanar fairly well. She didn't vault as well as Lauren, she didn't have as much power, but she was consistent. "Good girl Kelly" the brunette nodded and smiled slightly at the rare compliment before running to the vaulting table again.

He moved over to the beams. He made Rachel train with Kaylie. They were both gymnasts that responded to encouragement rather than toughness and so they helped each other a lot. Rachel had a nice, clean beam set. The fifteen year old had just missed out on an invitation to Trials but she was still working her little heart out. Sasha couldn't wait to coach her through the next quad. Kaylie, on the other hand was driving him insane. She had the potential to be the Olympic champion on the beam but she just didn't have the drive. He'd seen a flash of the old Kaylie at Nationals but at the rate she was going she wasn't going to make the team. He didn't voice his suspicion to anyone, if Kaylie found out what he thought, she'd fall apart.

"Good job Rachel. Kaylie, two more beam routines then pop up to my office."

Kaylie's face contorted in panic, she hated getting into trouble.

"It's ok, I just want to chat, seriously."

Kaylie nodded and got back up on the beam, wobblier than the time before. Sasha tried not to show how frustrated he was and went to spot Payson on the bars for a couple of minutes before going to his office to wait for Kaylie. The brunette entered tentatively.

Sasha sighed, of all his athletes Kaylie was the most vulnerable. The others were all strong in their own way and they were sure of themselves. Kaylie wasn't. He smiled at Kaylie "sit down – I've got something to show you." Turned on TV and put a DVD in the DVD player. The first couple of minutes were clearly filmed by an amateur, probably a proud Alex or Ronnie of Kaylie at her very first junior nationals at 12. Kaylie was grinning ear to ear tumbling above the floor, and dancing on the beam, her leaps absolutely perfect, it faded out and the next clip was in Kaylie's last nationals as a junior – it was high quality video coverage, the world had noticed Kaylie so she was part of the NBC footage. Kaylie cheered on her teammates and the video faded out to show her getting her silver medals on floor, beam and bars. Then there was a montage that someone had put up on YouTube 'my all time favourite gymnast!' it showed Kaylie fiercely attacking the floor routine that won her the national championship, her triple twist beam dismount, the pep talk before the meet against China, Kaylie crying and hugging Payson when she did her first bars routine after breaking her back. Kaylie announcing her eating disorder to the press and finally her floor routine that won the team gold at worlds. The screen closed out with the USA girls grinning as they held their medals. Sasha switched the TV off and silently handed Kaylie some tissues.

"Sorry Sasha – that, uh wasn't what I was expecting" she said, wiping tears from her cheeks.

"Don't apologise. I wanted you to remember how truly special you are."

Kaylie was amazed at how well Sasha could read her. True his coaching style was unorthodox – but there was a reason he was one of the greatest coaches of all time. "I've been feeling really...down I guess for ages. That girl on the DVD, she had fire and passion. But now I just feel like I'm here because I have to be."

Sasha nodded "I felt that way too before the games. The selection process is exhausting."

"Really? It's not just me? But the other girls are so focused. Even Payson is close to I don't even know but she looks so tired but she just keeps going, but I just can't find the passion."

Sasha held her gaze for a long time "I'm not going to sugar coat this Kaylie, you need passion to succeed but what you're feeling isn't abnormal. The others have all gone through similar periods, Emily and Lauren in particular."

"How do I get that passion back?"

"Well why don't you tell me about the time you first realised you wanted to reach the top at gymnastics?"

"I'd just learned how to do a giant on bars – the feeling was incredible, it felt like I was flying. And then after I dismounted I realised everyone had stopped to watch me. Marty said I had the best natural execution of anyone he'd ever seen. I realised that I could tell a story with my gymnastics so floor soon became my favourite event."

Sasha nodded "look you're smiling. Do you think you can feel that again?"

Kaylie sighed, "I really want to Sasha but I'm just so tired."

Sasha nodded. Kaylie was almost nineteen, she'd been doing gymnastics for almost 15 years, it was a long haul. "I'm going to help you as much as I can but it needs to come from you. But every morning at the start of practice you're going to play some of your favourite music and dance and do whatever tumbling you want. We're going to try and get you connected to gymnastics again. Because Kaylie you're damn good and there's no way I'm going to let a non Rock gymnast get on the team in place of a Rock girl if I can help it."

"Thanks Sasha"

"And I also found these." He handed her a box full of paper and cards "this is the fan mail you received that was sent to the NGO that Ellen Beals didn't send, I only just got it a couple of days ago, I hope they help."

Kaylie grinned, the best part about gymnastics for her was always being able to entertain people and be a role model so fan mail meant so much to here "thank you!" she hugged her coach tightly.

XXX

Darby was exhausted. She'd gone to the gym for six hours straight, and it was catching up with her.

"You are in serious need of a sugar fix" Emily informed her as they finished drying their hair.

Darby rolled her eyes "why is food always the solution in your world?"

"Not just in my world – it is, it's a fact. Come on, I know just the place." They drove to a small cafe about half an hour out of town, Emily ordered a piece of chocolate cake for Darby and a salad for herself. Darby ate it hungrily, she was so grateful to have Emily in her life, the girl was mature beyond her years.

After she finished she put her fork down "I've decided"

"On?"

"I'm going to try and get parental rights of Jenna again. I can support her now and I can't bear the thought of her not having a real family. Not that Margi isn't but I'm ready to be a Mum."

Emily uncharacteristically squealed and hugged Darby "I'm so happy for you!"

"But not till after the Olympics, I've still got to sort you out after all."

Emily just poked her tongue out at her coach.

**A/N epically late update I know, this chapter was really hard to write – so much emotion! And isn't Sasha the best coach ever? Please let me know what you thought (give me some inspiration to study for exams, sigh! And also to update!). Next chapter will be the Olympic trials and there's going to be some serious disappointment, a wee spoiler for you...not every Rock girl makes the team. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: The Power of the Dream**

The atmosphere was claustrophobic, Emily felt like she could cut the tension with a knife. The press was everywhere, she gulped nervously – she couldn't let this get to her head. This was just another meet, she just needed to do what she did at practice. She couldn't control anything. Payson put a reassuring arm on Emily's shoulder and Emily smiled.

"That's better, show them you're a fighter." Payson said. She hated these pre meet interviews as much as the next person but she was not going to give the journalists the satisfaction of seeing her emotions. She had her game face on.

Kaylie felt like throwing up. The pressure she felt was crazy. Sasha's plan of trying to make her passionate again had worked to a degree. She was now excited and nervous instead of apathetic but she wasn't sure that was any better – she was so nervous that she was shaking. She was grateful that her teammates were shadowing her: the other Rock girls had purposely surrounded Kaylie that the press would find it harder to talk to her – Kaylie Cruz was every journalist's dream: gorgeous, personable, with real problems and, most importantly, with no idea how to handle the press.

Sasha huddled the girls together before taking them into the press room. "I am so incredibly proud of all of you. The press is going to go crazy over you. This is the first time in years that girls all from one gym have the chance of comprising an Olympic team. I want you all to stay calm and remember the media coaching you've been given. Be evasive, diplomatic and remember you are in control." The girls nodded and walked into the room full of press.

For Lauren, the press interviews seemed to go on forever. She'd had trouble sleeping for the past week and she was feeling, weird. She felt like she couldn't make herself happy, she couldn't put her finger on it: she just felt really, really low. And she couldn't bring herself to care, she was just so exhausted. Usually she slept like a baby – training 7 hours a day had that effect. Finally after what felt like a million years, the girls were allowed onto the podium for their final warm up before the meet started.

The girls quickly had warm-ups on each apparatus. The Rock girls were starting on floor, since they had the national champion in their group, they started on Kelly's best apparatus. Pay was up first, Lauren couldn't believe her composure. She killed it, as usual. Floor, vault and bars all went fairly well for the Rock girls. Emily had a shaky beam but she stayed on. Kelly was her usual steady self, Payson was absolutely stunning, Kaylie was charming and then it was Lauren's turn. She gave the judges a small smile before mounting the beam, she felt really dizzy but managed to stay on for most of the routine, but when she came to do her dismount she didn't get enough height and stumbled on her landing.

XXX

Lauren trudged back to her hotel room. She was so angry about her beam routine. She'd practiced so hard and she was far from her best. Her head ached and she just wanted to curl up and cry, but the fighter in her forced herself to shower and get into her pyjamas even though it was only 8.30. She bit her lip, she didn't know what was wrong: she was so strung out. She took two panadol and got into bed, hopefully she'd sleep better tonight.

She lay awake for a couple of hours, she heard Emily use their shared bathroom and go to bed. Lauren groaned. She felt like he head was splitting in two. She lent over to switch on the light. She was so tired that the room was fuzzy. With great effort Lauren got out of bed, tied her hair in a messy bun and put her sneakers on. She tiptoed out into the corridor and walked down to the gym. She started running on the treadmill. She put it up to full speed and she sprinted for an hour, until she was covered in sweat. Then she went back to her room and showered. She went back to bed but she still couldn't sleep, she quietly started crying: she was so strung out and miserable, she wished she would fall asleep.

The alarm buzzed – Lauren glared at it. She groaned and dragged herself out of bed. She forced herself to stand up, she was shaking from tiredness. She took a deep breath, she was a fighter, she could beat this. She rubbed her eyes and went to put make up on.

"Hey Lo" Emily mumbled, her hair tousled.

"Hey" Lauren croaked.

Emily took in her friend's deathly pale skin and blurry eyes. "What's wrong?"

Lauren bit her lip. "I – I dunno, I've been feeling really crap this past couple of weeks and I can't sleep." She screwed her eyes closed so she didn't cry.

Emily nodded and hugged Lauren. "It's going to be ok. I'm getting Payson." Emily said, trying to be calm. Lauren's fall on beam yesterday was terrible, she hadn't fallen off beam in years and although it hadn't ruined her chances, she needed to be nearly perfect today to make the team.

Lauren breathed deeply. She grabbed her hair straightener and pulled it through her hair, her arms felt like lead and she just felt miserable. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked ragged. She turned her head as Emily reentered, flagged by Payson. The blonde girl walked over to Lauren and silently put her arms around her. And Lauren relaxed into the hug. After almost a full minute Payson gently pushed Lauren off her and held, gripped her shoulders tightly and looked her in the eye.

"Stand up straight." Payson said and Lauren obliged.

"Em said you've had a rough couple of nights."

Lauren nodded, a tear escaping down her cheek. She couldn't believe how easily she was crying, normally she was tough but that was what happened, she guessed when people didn't get any sleep. "I've had no sleep, I feel like everything is four times as hard."

Payson nodded. "Can you find your passion again?"

"What do you mean?"

"Reach down deep inside yourself, find that feeling you get when you are exhausted from training but there's that feeling inside you that makes you keep going. Do you think you can find it?"

Lauren looked at the girl who had led her for so many years, who had stood beside her despite the fact Lauren had betrayed her time and time again. She closed her eyes and remembered the day they won team gold, the feeling of joy and the feeling of being accepted by her team, and her coach. "I think so."

"Good. Now listen to me very carefully." Payson said calmly but sternly "I want you to hold onto that feeling, try to ignore your fatigue, and think of yourself on that Olympic team. You're Lauren fucking Tanner; there is no way you're going to let a couple of sleepless nights get in the way of your dream. Am I clear?"

"I'll try" Lauren croaked.

"Not good enough." Payson said, almost angrily.

"Yes! One of the spots on the team is mine!"

Payson smiled. "That's the Lauren I know and love, just think, all you've got to do is four more routines and then you can sleep, we'll get you sorted."

XXX

Sasha was wired. He had put more effort, more emotion, and more soul into this Rock team than any other set of gymnasts ever. He pulled them into a huddle, his eyes anxiously resting on Lauren. He had a suspicion about what was wrong with her but he wasn't going to bring it up here: he didn't want anything else messing with her head. The blonde's hands were shaking – but he was fairly sure she'd get through her routines. He addressed each of them in turn and sooner than he anticipated Emily's name was announced for vault.

Emily stared down at the vaulting table. She was feeling so much more confident after her third place finish at nationals – now she finally felt equal to the other girls. She ran at the table – pushing everything out of her mind except the apparatus. And after a second it was over. She felt her feet touch the matt, her knees bend to absorb her weight, and to her immense surprise she didn't need the hop back, she'd stuck her double twisting yurchenko!

Kaylie and Kelly followed: each doing an Amanar, and Kelly doing a Cheng as her second vault and Kaylie doing a half on half off. It was a testament to the strength of the US that their Amanars were nothing out of the ordinary. Payson followed, just doing an Amanar. She and Sasha had decided to drop her second vault after her scare at nationals.

Then finally Lauren was up. Sasha walked up to her "all I want you to do is hit. You're the national vault champion, they know what you can do. So if you don't feel you can stick your vaults – take a step. You're strung out and I don't want you hurting yourself, am I clear?"

It was a testament to how exhausted Lauren was that she didn't complain. Normally she would have stormed off at the very thought of Sasha making her go easy but she was grateful that he was going a bit easy on her. She saluted the judges and ran. She twisted around one and three quarter times easily and forced the rest of her double twist. The same vault Emily had just competed. Normally this was a walk in the park but she had to take a huge step back just to stand up. But she'd done it – now she just needed to do her Prudonova with an extra half twist: if she landed it at the Olympics it would be called the Tanner. It was a dangerous, crazy vault that Sasha had been apprehensive about teaching her, but Lauren had been training the Prudonova for years and she was the most powerful gymnast in the country, probably the world so Sasha had given in. Lauren looked at the vaulting table – suddenly something she did every day felt like an insurmountable obstacle. She sighed. This vault had a 7.7 difficulty level. The NGO was crazy about it, but Lauren knew if she vaulted it today she'd end up hurt. After an age she saluted the judges and just completed a Prudonova. She landed with a deep squat but she got it to her feet.

She walked slowly over to Sasha "I'm sorry" she mumbled.

Sasha hugged his shortest gymnast. "Don't you dare be sorry, I'm proud of you for knowing your limits, Lo – and look only Pay's ahead of you at the moment."

That hardly cheered Lauren up, firstly because she always bet the others on vault anyway and secondly because her head was throbbing so bad she couldn't think. "Come on – one down three to go."

Lauren bit her lip and forced herself not to cry. She hated herself for feeling like this – she had no idea why she was so weepy. "Okay."

Emily watched anxiously as Lauren went through her bar routine. Bars was Lauren's weakest event, but she pushed through it. Emily and Kaylie were gripping each other's hands tightly and they both breathed a sigh of relief when she got her full twisting double layout to her feet with just a small hop. Sasha led Lauren to a nearby seat and gave her a couple of panadol before spotting Kaylie.

Kaylie was too concerned about Lauren to worry about herself. Until now. She suddenly looked up to the stands. They were full, she bit her lip but when she saluted the judges, the crowd roared and Kaylie's heart leapt. She grinned and saluted a second time – sure it was cheeky but she loved to perform. She soared through her routine, loving the way her body was completely in sync with the apparatus before dismounting and grinning again. Bars weren't Kaylie's best apparatus but she knew she'd done her best.

Kelly gave her usual excellent routine. It won silver at worlds but it paled compared to Payson's and Emily's. Their natural grace and Sasha's persistent coaching had resulted in two of the best bar routines in the world, possibly of all time. He hugged them each tightly as they finished. Payson especially, he put a lot of emotion into that hug, his immense pride in her, his apology for burning her out, and finally the way he felt about her. And then it was time for beam.

Sasha took a deep breath. They still had a wee while before they started, uneven bars usually took a shorter amount of time than beam. He watched Rosa Reynolds and her teammate Andrea Conway compete well. Finally the little dynamite Haruko Ueda finished the rotation. Those girls were good, but he had the three best beamers in the world, albeit one of them looked like she was falling apart. He walked over to Lauren "Tanner I need you to smile."

Lauren looked up at him, her eyes glassy from fatigue "I can't Sasha I'm too tired."

Sasha wanted to hug her, to tell her everything would be ok, but that wasn't the way it worked with Lauren. She needed a kick up the arse otherwise she was going to screw up beam and lose her ticket to London in the process.

"Bull. I don't give a crap how tired you feel. You are going to get your arse on the beam, and you are going to smile and be charming. I've taken you too far for you to screw up now." He glared at Lauren, feeling like a complete douche but hoping that this gamble paid off.

Lauren felt like she'd been slapped but she bounced back fast enough. _No one_ talked to her like that. "Screw you Sasha. I will go out there and kick arse, but certainly not for you."

Lauren marched up to the beam. Her head was throbbing but she didn't care – she was not going to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her fall. She mounted the beam and got through her first two lengths – she got through her third combination, but she faltered on one of her layouts. She gritted her teeth, she was _not _going to fall off, she wrapped her toes around the beam and forced herself to balance. The crowd went wild! But she over estimated herself and almost slipped and touched the beam, but she managed to stop herself. She smiled, pretending nothing had happened and battled through the rest of her routine, sticking her Patterson dismount.

The Rock girls were screaming their heads off and Sasha was clapping like a crazy person. He went over and high fived her. Lauren reluctantly reciprocated. "Thanks Sasha, I needed that."

Sasha smiled "you and I are alike in that respect Lo, when we're mad we're invincible, come and sit down: just one more to go." Sasha was more nervous than he let on, although he was impressed by her save, that had been a huge balance check and he knew the NGO worried about Lauren's behaviour towards Kelly at worlds. He pushed the worry out of his mind – he needed to focus on the other girls.

Emily watched Kaylie and Payson kill it on beam. She knew Sasha had somehow arranged it so that she'd be between Pay and Kelly – the two solid competitors so she almost certainly would be after someone who didn't fall. Darby came up and stood beside her.

"You've got this."

Emily bit her lip, why did the beam have to exist? She still had a mental block about it. It's not like she'd be going anywhere near the beam in team finals. She shook the thought from her head and focused on the piece of wood in front of her. She saluted the judges, mounted and battled her way through her routine. Before she knew it, it was time to dismount she looked at Darby, who glared at her: she hated Emily showing any sign of not focusing. Emily ran down the beam and did her double tuck, but something didn't feel right, she landed deeply and sat down her double tuck. She bit her lip and saluted the judges, and refused to let the tears come. She still had floor to go, but she felt terrible, she was so mad! She knew she could do better.

She looked over to her coaches. Sasha's face was expressionless. He'd seen many falls and knew how to react. Darby on the other hand looked like someone had died – she knew Emily's Olympic shot was effectively over, all because she got cocky she took a deep breath and went to hug Emily – they weren't done yet and she was going to help Emily blow them away with her floor routine.

"How did I screw up that badly?" Emily asked, tears in her eyes. Suddenly all the self confidence she'd built faded away and she was the anxious little girl who had been thrown into the elite scene, who couldn't handle the pressure or the discipline.

Darby gripped Emily's shoulders tightly as Kelly went up to the beam. "Listen to me – what happened back there, that's in the past. You can't do anything about it. I want you to focus on your last routine. You're Emily Kmetko, the most naturally talented gymnast the world's seen in a long time – go out there and prove to everyone why you're going to London."

"But my beam –"

"What beam routine? All I care about is your floor, understand?"

Emily nodded "yes Darby"

"Good, now go visualise." Darby said before cheering Kelly on. The girl was simply BAMFing it on beam – she wasn't the most artistic or the most powerful gymnast but KP was a rock and when she dismounted the crowd went crazy. She was a fan favourite too.

Sasha led his girls to the floor section of the podium. He couldn't believe that this was it. In about forty five minutes they would know who was on the US team. Fortunately for him, he had the five best floor workers in the world. Kelly and Lauren with their crazy tumbling, Kaylie with her lovely dance, Emily who was just as artistic, but in a different way, and finally Payson – she had the most difficult routine in the world, with the best execution and that je ne sais quoi that was usually only seen in older gymnasts.

Kaylie was the first of the Rock girls on floor, the crowd was deafening. Kaylie had a way of winning people's hearts – her fans saw her as an ordinary girl who had accomplished extraordinary things – she tumbled and danced her way through to an instrumental version of Jordin Sparks' 'No Air' she finished with a huge grin on her face and Sasha cheered. Kaylie came over to him and hugged him.

"Enjoy yourself?" Sasha asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"So much, thank you Sasha, for everything. Even if I don't make it, it was worth it just to get this far."

"That's my girl." Sasha said, he was so proud that Kaylie had overcome her pursuit of perfection. He let her go and talk with the rest of the girls before heading over to Lauren.

"Ready?"

The blonde girl looked at him, her eyes blurry from fatigue and nodded.

"Good, just remember you've practiced this thousands of times. I know it sounds stupid but what I want you to do is relax and let your muscle memory take over. Your body knows what it's doing even if it's tired."

Lauren nodded and slowly stood up.

"And don't forget to smile!" Sasha called after her. Lauren rolled her eyes but did as he asked. The routine was one of the hardest in the world but for Lauren, usually, it was easy. She forced her headache to the side and let her body tell her what to do – following the music. And after what seemed like only a few seconds she was in her finishing pose. She saluted the judges, forcing herself to smile and walked slowly back to the rest of the girls. Kaylie wrapped her in a tight hug which Lauren returned, even though all she wanted to do was sleep.

Sasha watched nervously as Emily began her floor routine. She had come along way but this sort of pressure was not something she was entirely used to. The rest of his girls had lived and breathed pressure and discipline since before most kids started school. Emily was a relative newcomer and he knew there was nothing harder than performing an amazing routine after a fall. But his anxiety was shortlived. Emily had a fire in her eyes that, quite frankly scared the shit out of him. The girl attacked her floor routine: she still had the flawless lines and grace but there was something else, a hunger to win. Finally she completed her last tumble and sunk into her final pose. Sasha couldn't help himself – he let out a loud whoop and punched the air with his fist, usually he thought that was tacky but for this routine, for this kid, anything else fell short. Emily laughed at him and ran to hug him and Darby. She looked up to Damon in the stands. He just nodded as if to say, I knew you could do it: he and Larissa held up a ridiculously big banner that said KMETKO FTW, Emily rolled her eyes, but blew him a kiss.

Payson walked up to the floor, and Sasha's heart leapt, as it always did whenever Pay competed on floor. It was breathtaking as usual but compared to Emily's it didn't quite have the same fire. It was still spectacular though. Finally the national champion walked over to the floor. She was the final competitor of the day and she did her routine well, steady and well executed but after Emily and Payson it lacked _something_. But Sasha knew that Kelly would still almost certainly make the team, she was a rock and unlike the others hadn't had huge gaps between competing. He went to hug his most reliable athlete "good job soldier." He said quietly, using the nickname Marty gave her.

"Thanks coach."

It was all over, Payson couldn't believe it. All their hard work had was done, there was nothing more they could do. She wrapped her arms around Lauren and Kaylie's shoulders while they pulled the other two girls into their huddle. The scores came up on the screen. Once the medal ceremonies were over the selection committee only had half an hour to make their decision.

"Poker faces girls" Sasha whispered as the scores came up on the screen "show them how classy you are."

Lauren was exhausted but she managed a laugh.

"Yes even you Lauren."

A huge cheer erupted as the scores were posted and the girls turned as one to watch the screen.

All Around Results

_1__st__ Rosa Reynolds 60.78_

_2__nd__ Payson Keeler 60.50_

_3__rd__ Kelly Parker 59.7_

_4__th__ Andrea Conway_

_5__th__ Haruko Ueda_

_6__th__ Kaylie Cruz_

_7__th__ Collette Evans_

_8__th__ Lauren Tanner_

_9__th__ Emily Kmetko_

_10__th__ Sierra Davis_

_11__th__ Chelle Chatwin_

_12__th__ Keiko Tanaka_

_13__th__ Meill Smythe_

_14__th__ Cameron Miston_

_15__th__ Lara Dickens_

Vault

_1st Lauren Tanner_

_2__nd__ Kelly Parker_

_3__rd__ Kaylie Cruz_

_4__th__ Rosa Reynolds_

_5__th__ Cameron Miston_

_6__th__ Chelle Chatwin_

Uneven Bars

_1st Emily Kmetko_

_2__nd__ Payson Keeler_

_3__rd__ Andrea Conway_

_4__th__ Kelly Parker_

_5__th__ Rosa Reynolds_

_6__th__ Haruko Ueda_

Balance Beam

_1__st__ Rosa Reynolds_

_2__nd__ Kaylie Cruz_

_3__rd__ Payson Keeler_

_4__th__ Andrea Conway_

_5__th__ Kelly Parker_

_6__th__ Haruko Ueda_

Floor Exercise

_1__st__ Payson Keeler_

_1__st__ Emily Kmetko_

_3__rd__ Kaylie Cruz_

_4__th__ Rosa Reynolds_

_5__th__ Haruko Ueda_

_6__th__ Kelly Parker_

Emily clapped her hand to her mouth. Two titles - floor and bars! Darby hugged her tightly. "That's my girl" she said, tears in her eyes.

Lauren bit back tears, her head felt so stuffy. She couldn't believe that she'd let a couple of bad night's sleep ruin everything. But then Sasha came up to her "hey champion. You just won vault when you were far from your best. You're a fighter!" Lauren cheered up, maybe things wouldn't seem so bad after all.

"Thanks Sasha" she said.

Sasha just nodded. With the first place finisher getting an automatic berth on the team that meant there were only four spots left. And he had five girls. He took a deep breath and cheered each of his girls as they made their way to the podium. Whatever happened he was immensely proud of all of them. He just hoped that they could be proud of themselves as well. He could tell that Payson was pissed. She was the best gymnast in the country but she'd always had bad luck, but hopefully she'd be back to competing full difficulty by the Olympics and blow everyone away.

Once the girls got their medals they were instructed to go and wait out the back of the podium, away from the cameras while the committee made their decision. Kelly was numb, she couldn't believe that in a few minutes she'd have either achieved her dream or...not, she couldn't bear to think of the second possibility. The girls were led into a lounge where they had a TV and some sofas as well as a kitchenette. Kelly was glad that they weren't in the public eye, though she was going to have trouble controlling her emotions once she was out on the floor. She sat down next to Kaylie and put her arm around her shoulder, Kaylie smiled nervously. All the girls were too tired and nervous to talk.

After what seemed like a million years one of the ladies from the NGO popped her head in. "Come on girls, are you ready to go?"

Payson frowned "all of us?"

"Of course! Your fans want to see all of you, you've all come so far."

Kelly stood up "so the cameras are going to be on our faces while the team is named, in front of everyone? How classy. Last time I checked this was a sports event not a reality TV show."

The woman cringed. She knew the Rock girls had attitude, but she didn't ever think she'd feel intimidated by a nineteen year old who was just over five foot and wearing a leotard. She took a deep breath "listen Kelly, I know this is hard for you to understand but this is the way we're doing it. Get into your tracksuits and make sure you all look fresh. See you in five. If you could line up in height order too, please." 

Payson balled her hands into fists, she did _not_ appreciate being treated like this "what should we do?" she asked Kelly.

The older girl scowled "we'll do as they say. But girls listen up, we are not going to give them the satisfaction of seeing any drama. We will go out there and be calm and classy. Whatever happens we won't cry, not in front of them. Anyone who gets on the team will be gracious and look out for those who don't and anyone who doesn't get on the team even though it feels like your heart is breaking, you will try and smile and be happy for those who do. Let's show them who's boss!"

The younger girls smiled, and murmurs of "you've got it Kel" and "bring it" echoed around the room. Filled with a sense of purpose they marched out, Haruko, the shortest leading the way.

XXX

"Well we are here, finally we find out who will be named to the 2012 Olympic team. There will be tears and drama" Tim the commentator said happily. He loved the intensity of watching the athletes either make it or not. "I will hand you over to Marcus O'Neill our NGO rep who will announce our Olympic team out of the lovely young girls before us." He met Kelly's eye and instantly regretted it: the girl was staring daggers at him. He hastily handed over the microphone.

"This decision has been incredibly difficult. We have fifteen girls and only five spots but I want to assure each of you that you have all accomplished great things. You are some of the toughest athletes in the world and you will all go far in whatever it is you each choose to do and I sincerely mean that." Marcus hated that they had to publicly name the team, it was tacky.

"As per the qualification rules the athlete with the highest score over two days of trials gains automatic berth onto the team. This quadrennium that athlete is Rosa Reynolds. Rosa is a first year senior and is known by her coach and teammates as the little dynamite. She has some of the hardest routines in the world and her bubbly personality and crazy power is reminiscent of Shawn Johnson and Carly Patterson. She is well deserving of her place on the team." The crowd erupted into a huge cheer and the other girls all descended on Rosa, hugging her.

Once Rosa came up and claimed her plaque and team jacket Marcus continued "the four remaining team members were not chosen specifically on their all around results: they were chosen as the best combination to take home the best possible team result. This decision was very difficult for us but we believe we have chosen the strongest team the USA has seen in a long time. It is my pleasure to announce our second team member, and team captain for 2012: Miss Payson Keeler."

The crowd absolutely screamed when Payson's name was announced. Her class and comeback made her beloved. Sasha was crying, Kim and Mark were crying and Becca was screaming her head off. Emily basically jumped on Payson, closely followed by the rest of the Rock girls. True to her promise with Kelly, Payson just smiled calmly and hugged every single other girl.

Marcus cleared his throat after it was clear that the crowd wasn't going to calm down "I was going to give a big introduction to Payson but it seems that you already know how spectacular she is: our comeback kid, ladies and gentlemen." And the crowd went wild again. Payson joined Rosa on the stage, they linked arms.

"Our third team member is one of our toughest competitors, she's steady as a rock and has pulled through for the team time and time again. Ladies and gentlemen: Kelly Parker." Kelly hugged her teammates, blew a kiss to the crowd and went on the stage: she gave the commentators a withering look and took her plaque. This was the tackiest thing in the world.

"This young lady has captured all our hearts with her bravery and entertaining gymnastics: Kaylie Cruz, former national champion and world team member." If the crowd had gone crazy for the previous three girls it went absolutely manic when Kaylie was announced. Kaylie let a single tear escape down her cheek. She looked up to Austin in the stands and whispered "I love you", which the press ate up. Kaylie hugged each of the remaining girls. She could tell how tense they were – there was only one spot left. "You're amazing" she whispered to each of them.

There was a sense of anticipation in the air, Marcus hated this part of his job. Up until now all of the girls before him still had a glimpse of hope, however small that they would be going to the Olympics "This final spot was a very difficult decision and I wish we could take all of you. Our final Olympian is a young woman of integrity who has overcome hardship to get where she is today. She has not let anything stand in the way of her dream. Ladies and gentlemen, Emily Kmetko."

Emily and Lauren looked at each other. Emily felt like the world was ending. Lauren's eyes looked empty, Emily hugged her friend tightly. Her friend who had worked her entire life for this and not made it. "It should have been you." Emily said tearfully.

"No! Em this is your time, go out and kick arse for me." Lauren said thickly. Emily hugged Lauren for a long time before hugging each of the other girls, she hugged Andrea for a long time too: she knew the older girl had thought she'd made the team. In fact, Emily couldn't believe that this wasn't all a dream. Numbly she went to accept her plaque.

Marcus announced Andrea and Haruko as the alternates and Sasha looked at his athletes and joined them on the stage as he was announced head coach. He was happy for them but his heart broke seeing Lauren standing on the floor, looking small and defeated.

**A/N thank you for your lovely reviews, they mean so much. And to the anonymous reviewer, if you want to find out how Sasha got his black eye, read the outtakes **_**The Locker Room**_**, it's all in there . This chapter was so hard to write. Were you surprised at Kelly getting mad at the NGO? That girl has moxy. As always let me know what you thought **


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Bombshells **

Lauren forced the nail of her middle finger under her thumbnail, hard. She focused on that so she didn't cry, she wasn't going to cry. Not now. She forced a smile when Payson invited the eight other girls onto the mini stage. She wasn't angry at her teammates for making the team. She was surprised: normally when stuff like this happened she was filled with jealousy but looking into their faces all she could see was the years of hard work, the hurdles they'd overcome and, above all, how much they deserved to be going to London. She was exhausted though. The lack of sleep was finally taking its toll, her legs felt like jelly and her vision was a bit blurry. Finally they were allowed down from the stage. The media was swarming in, their cameras giving Lauren a huge headache, the edges of her vision started to go dark and she felt like she was going to fall over when a strong hand gripped each of her shoulders.

"I've got you. Don't worry about the media. The others are blocking their view of you. Lean against me, good girl." Lauren leaned into her coach as she'd done thousands of times at the end of a gruelling practice and she let Sasha half carry her to the edge of the podium, then he picked her up and carried outside he then helped her into a taxi. Steve following them worriedly.

When they reached the hotel Sasha told Lauren to go and freshen up and Sasha looked at Steve, the man looked exhausted.

"I can't believe it's finally over. All we've worked for."

Sasha gripped Steve's shoulder "it's not over, Lauren's got her whole life ahead of her. Look how far she's come. She hugged her teammates genuinely tonight, she didn't try to sabotage any of them. That's worth more than any medal."

Steve looked at him for a long time. Why did the man have to be so freaking noble? He was right of course but it still stung that his only child had come so close to achieving her dream and not making it.

"What's wrong with her Sasha?" He asked quietly "the past few weeks she hasn't been herself. I was surprised she managed to stay on the beam today, my heart was in my mouth her whole routine."

Sasha didn't say anything. He wanted to bring this up with Lauren first.

Steve sensed Sasha's hesitation. "Please tell me." He asked in a sad voice.

Sasha shook his head. "I think I know what's wrong but I don't want to bring this up until I've spoken to Lauren. I've seen it happen in a lot of athletes. But I'm not a doctor, it's just a hunch."

Steve glared at Sasha but for some reason he didn't yell at him. He saw how jaded the younger man seemed, he realised that he cared for his daughter. "Okay"

"Thank you" Sasha said, he was glad to avoid a row with one of the fiercest litigators in the state. Lauren came out of her room, her blonde hair hanging messily around her face, bags under her eyes.

"Can we come in, Lauren?" The blonde nodded wearily. And Sasha and Steve followed her. Lauren walked slowly and sat on her bed, Steve joined her and put his arm around her, Sasha took the chair by the desk, he looked at Lauren seriously. "I want you to answer some questions, and answer them honestly, please."

Lauren nodded. She normally would have rolled her eyes but she was pretty freaked about how crap she felt.

"Good. How long have you had trouble sleeping?"

Lauren paused, thinking about all the sleepless nights she'd had. She'd only started complaining a couple of weeks ago but... "2 months" she said, not meeting her father's eye. She knew he'd feel guilty for not noticing.

Sasha nodded "and have you been feeling achy and tired?"

"You know I have" Lauren whispered. "I also feel like every little thing is so hard and I'm really sensitive I get upset at the smallest things. It's freaking annoying." She said, suddenly tying to lighten the mood. It didn't work.

"Honey, why didn't you tell me this?" Steve asked bewildered. Lauren had a tendency to whine about everything but she for some reason decided she didn't need to tell him that she was really not feeling good.

"I didn't want to bother you." Lauren said automatically and then paused, "and I was scared, I felt like, feel like I'm going crazy or something."

Steve silently put an arm around his daughter and kissed her head softly. "We'll get to the bottom of this Lo."

Normally Sasha would quip that Lauren _was_ crazy but this wasn't the time. He took both of his athlete's hands in his own and looked at her. He had no idea how to say this. He'd had similar conversations twice before and it never got easier. "Lauren I think you might be suffering from depression. Now I know it seems scary but many people have it. And often it's successful people. It's not a big deal, it's totally treatable and I know a doctor who'll be able to help you."

Lauren was dumbfounded. She'd heard about mental illnesses but she thought they just happened to crazy old cat ladies who had no friends. Normally she would have called Sasha an idiot and stormed out but she was so tired that all she had the energy to do was bury her head in her father's shoulder and cry. "I don't want this."

Steve wrapped his arms around Lauren "honey it's okay. This is totally normal. I got depressed when I was about your age."

Lauren looked up in surprise. Her Dad was _tough_ she could never imagine him like this. "When I was a first year law student, I moved cities. It was hard, I didn't know anyone, and I was shy. I was in a dorm with lots of outgoing overachievers who never really accepted me. Which is fine. You don't get on with everyone. But I found it really really tough. I was too scared to ask for help so I didn't make friends: it wasn't till I met your mother that I finally understood that I was sick, just like having a broken arm and that I could get help." Steve had tears in his eyes, he felt so guilty for not realising Lauren's problem earlier.

"Daddy why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry. You had enough going on. Come on, let's get you to the doctor ok?"

Lauren nodded tentatively and she followed her father out of the hotel room. She paused as she was about to open the door "Sasha, are you ok if we don't tell the other girls yet?"

"Of course, but they're worried about you."

"I know, but I want them to focus on the Olympics without worrying about me."

Sasha's jaw almost dropped. This kid might not have made the Olympic team today but she had grown up almost overnight. Or had he just not noticed how far she'd come. He hugged his athlete "I'm proud of you: I hope you know that. I couldn't be prouder, irrespective of whether you made the team."

Lauren gave a resigned smile "that means a lot Sasha, really." She said, blinking back tears. She wasn't ready to process that this quadrennium was over for her. She didn't want to think about the decisions she'd soon have to make.

XXX

Interviews were crazy for the girls on the team. The media was thrilled to have four girls over eighteen on the team – they could be marketed as attractive young women, and 15 year old Rosa could be used to appeal to young girls. It was perfect. The only problem was that the girls were not cooperating. Kelly rolled her eyes every time a reporter asked her about the all around final at last year's worlds and the fact that Lauren had spooked her. "I have no idea what you're talking about" she would say icily, making Emily and Kaylie cringe. Kaylie quickly changed the subject to her and Austin, which at least appeased the reporters for a while, until they tried to talk to her about her anorexia and then Kaylie just clammed up.

Payson cringed as Kaylie gave yet another awkward 'no comment'. They really needed Sasha here to get them out of this, she guessed he was with Lauren. Payson's stomach sank when she thought of her teammate and friend. She knew it was a crazy dream for all five of them to make it but she'd always thought they would. She took a deep breath and went to stand beside Kaylie, putting an arm around her "Kaylie's been doing really well, we're all very proud of her. I mean look at her killer beam set. I get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about her standing full." Payson said, adding a pointless laugh. The reporter laughed sycophantically although she was disappointed: she knew she wasn't going to get anything out of Kaylie Cruz with Payson standing over her. Instead she reluctantly started questioning Payson about how her back felt and her decision to only compete one vault. After a while Payson managed to get all the reporters right where she wanted them. It was hard work though. There hadn't been this much drama in a gymnastics team in years and the media loved drama: especially with gymnastics being one of the most popular sports in the Olympic Games.

Finally the questions started slowing down and Payson could sense the interview was about to end. "Anyone else?" Payson asked "or are we free to get our beauty sleep?" The reporters chuckled half heartedly. They were tired too. There was a pause and Payson thought it was over until someone at the back raised their hand "I have question for Emily."

Payson's hand flew to her mouth. The speaker was Ellen Beals.

XXX

The doctor had been lovely. Lauren still felt like a freak but she was starting to understand that this was just a chemical imbalance that could be treated just like a sprain. The doctor had given her sleeping pills and firm instructions to lead a healthy lifestyle. She'd also given her the phone number of a counsellor. Lauren looked at the name and number written on the little card. She'd refused a counsellor after her mother's death but now that card seemed like a lifeline. A stranger who she could talk to without having to worry about being judged, it was just what she needed.

She and Steve walked in companionable silence. It was funny how you could become suddenly close to someone in just a couple of hours. She realised that she hardly knew her father. Well she knew him in a superficial sense: she knew how he took his coffee and what his favourite books were but she had no idea about his life before she was born, why he'd chosen the career he had and how he'd met her mum. "Daddy?"

"Mmm"

"Tell me about Mum, where did you meet her? When did you decide to get married? Where did she grow up?"

Her questions almost brought tears to Steve's eyes – he usually tried to keep those memories repressed because they hurt so much but it broke his heart how little Lauren knew. "Well your mother was one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. I met her when I went to a pub, my Mum, your grandma, was sick and I was upset. I was with a couple of people from my classes but I didn't know them all that well: I was terrible at making friends back then. I still I am I guess. And the boys started to get rowdy and I just felt more lonely. And then your Mum came over to me" Steve's eyes lit up at the memory "she had a smile on her face but she could tell I was upset. She bought me a beer and asked how my day was. I said fine, and she just frowned at me and said 'I can tell it wasn't, come on, spill' so I told her about Gran Tanner being in hospital and she just listened. And then we danced for a bit." Steve's eyes sparkled at the memory.

"Lauren, whatever you think of your mother, whatever the amount of pain she put us through. I want you to know that she was a remarkable woman and that she loved you very much."

Lauren was full on sobbing now. Partly for the fact she never knew that remarkable woman, partly that her Dad had bottled up so much for so long, partly because she never tried to help him through the hard times and finally she cried for not making the team. Steve just held her as she sobbed, huge gasping sobs with tears streaming everywhere. Steve kissed the top of her head. Lauren knew she must look like a loser but she couldn't care less. She and her father had struggled through this screwed up couple of years and people could damn well stare if they wanted to.

XXX

Sasha was on his way back to the stadium to join the rest of the girls when he got a text from MJ '_where the hell are you? Disaster with press. Get here'_ Sasha swore under his breath. MJ was usually as cool as a cucumber. He parked terribly and sprinted to the interview room, glaring at the security guards. It wasn't as if they didn't know who he was anyway. He burst into the room, he saw Emily looking deathly pale, Kaylie near tears and Payson and Kelly looking like they wanted to hit someone. And then he looked at the sea of reporters and his heart sunk when he saw Ellen Beals. That _female_ had somehow wormed her way into the press room.

"No Emily isn't available to comment I'm afraid" Marcus, one of the NGO said. Sasha breathed a sigh of relief. He found MJ's face and mouthed 'what happened?'

MJ shook her head, she came over to stand beside him "nothing, yet" she whispered in her head "Payson was managing the press beautifully and then Ellen just stood up and asked if she could ask Emily a question, fortunately Marcus stepped in. But people are going to be wondering why all of a sudden Em can't answer questions, so you and Darby had better come up with an excuse quick. Where is she by the way?"

Sasha shrugged "no idea, ok let me deal with this." He marched over to his gymnasts. "I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen but Emily and the other girls can't comment anymore. It's past their designated press time. They have to do some cardio before bed." He lied, not even he made is athletes train directly after a meet. But whatever, the media could think he was a horrible coach, so long as Ellen didn't reveal to the entire world that Emily was a mother right before the Olympics. Although Ellen had already done enough damage. The press was going to be super suspicious about what caused this not so subtle cover up. But that could wait until morning.

After the reporters had been ushered out the girls all stood there. Emily was shaking. "Thank you Sasha" she whispered. "And you too, Pay."

Payson hugged Emily "anytime, hun. I can't believe that cow was allowed in. She must have used a fake ID or something."

Sasha nodded. He didn't like this at all "girls I just want to say how incredibly proud I am of all of you and also how sorry I am that your night ended like this. Go back to the hotel and enjoy yourselves! I'll join you when I can." He hugged each of them tightly, not quite believing that he'd managed to coach four Olympians in one quadrennium it was surreal.

Kaylie, Kelly and Payson all linked arms and went to take a taxi back to the hotel where their families and supporters were waiting. But Emily lingered. "Sasha, she's going to tell. I know it. Even if we don't tell her, she'll just go to the press. I – I don't know if I can handle it." Suddenly she was like the sixteen year old she was when she first came to Rock: unconfident and almost embarrassed by her talent. Sasha gripped her shoulders. "I promise you that I will do all I can to stop that happening. I promise." He said seriously. "And if the truth gets out I am going to be behind you 100% - you have worked too hard for this, Emily. I am not going to let your dream disappear because one bitter, pathetic person couldn't find a hobby."

Emily almost laughed at that. Sasha was forever telling the cattier girls at the Rock to get a hobby. "I trust you Sasha" she said quietly before giving him a quick hug and following her teammates. Trust. That was a big word coming from Emily. There was no way he was going to let Ellen ruin his gymnast's career. Not that she should be embarrassed of having a kid and coming back to gymnastics but the press would destroy her, he thought bitterly.

His phone started to ring "yes?"

"It's Ellen here."

"Ah"

"You don't sound too pleased to hear from me. I'm hurt." Ellen mocked quietly. "You didn't really think I'd let Emily Kmetko get to the Olympics without being thoroughly embarrassed did you? The kid's a headcase, Belov. One bit of negative media attention and she'll be falling off every apparatus faster than her trashy mother goes through zebra striped tights."

"Leopard striped actually." Sasha responded quickly, then bit his tongue when he realised how stupid he sounded. "But you won't get away with this Ellen."

"And how are you going to stop me?"

That, thought Sasha, was an excellent question.

**A/N sorry for the long wait but this chapter was incredibly difficult to write. I've been tossing up whether to incorporate this storyline into Lauren's journey for a while. I don't know if it's too serious and gloomy but the idea popped into my head early on and I thought I'd write it in. And Ellen is back. But not for long, don't worry. That woman is going to get what's coming for her. Also who do you want to win at the Olympics? Please review and let me know what you thought I promise the next chapter won't be as sad!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Someday I'll be living in the big city and all you'll ever be is mean**

She'd made the Olympic team, she and her teammates had been through more than most people would in a life time to get to where they were and now it was about to be ruined because one bitter woman didn't have the decency to back off and leave them alone. Emily's head felt like it would explode. She wanted to not care, to shake off Ellen's conduct and not care whether the whole world knew about James. It's not like she was ashamed. She was _proud_ that she'd managed to fight and come back. But she couldn't shake the feeling of dread of everyone talking behind their backs about her. And she didn't want her teammates to be worrying about her. With a sense of trepidation she went into the shared lounge between their rooms.

Her teammates were all there. Kaylie had her arms crossed, looking at the ceiling, she looked tired. Rosa was sitting in a corner texting, Emily felt sorry for the younger girl. She had every right to be celebrating – she'd just won trials but now she was stuck here to deal with all the drama. And Kelly and Payson looked like they were talking seriously about something but looked up when Emily walked in. Kelly stood up "Em – we're going to sort this out. That _bitch_ is not going to get away with playing mind games! She's going to be so sorry she ever messed with us."

Emily smiled at her friend. If she was going into a fight, she'd choose Kelly Parker to be at her back. "Thanks KP but I'm ok really. And you guys should be out celebrating, this is my problem."

Payson shook her head "we're a team. Trying to hurt one of us is hurting all of us. We're not going to stand by and let her do this!" Rosa and Kaylie fiercely nodded their assent.

Emily loved Payson and the others to bits, she really did. But sometimes they were naive, they didn't get how rough the world could be sometimes. Sometimes you got dealt an unfair hand by someone and you just had to deal. Chloe's experience with her father and Bryan's accident were perfect examples. "Guys I don't think there's anything we can do. I'm just going to have to deal with this." She gave a tight smile "I'm going to be fine." She lied.

Payson glared "this is crap! I know we'll just hide you from the media, whenever you get asked a question and if she goes to the papers anyway we'll just deny everything."

Emily hugged her friend tightly. "You're amazing Pay, but that won't work." Suddenly Emily realised that this wouldn't just harm her publicity, it would make Sasha look bad too, not to mention Damon's reputation being torn to shreds. Kelly and Payson would probably get fewer endorsements from their association with her and poor Summer and James – she wouldn't put it past Ellen to bring them into it as well. She sighed "can we just do something quiet. I don't want to think right now."

"Pride and prejudice? The BBC version?" Payson suggested while Rosa and Kaylie squealed their agreement and Kelly rolled her eyes. Her teammates were hopeless romantics, all of them.

Emily grinned "well if Colin Firth can't take my mind off this, nothing can."

XXX

Damon had seen Ellen's tacky attempt to bring Emily down on TV. He wanted to run over to the hotel straight away but Chloe had convinced him to wait "she needs to be with her team for a bit Damon. I know it's hard to accept but they need to talk. It's one of the downfalls of being close to an Olympian" she said sadly. She'd always felt a tiny bit hurt when she'd never been allowed near Emily during meets, or directly after. But she guessed that the girls were almost family to each other. Damon nodded and gave Chloe a brief hug before going back to his room. He kicked his shoes off and instinctively reached for his acoustic, hoping that a hard practice would block out his frustration but it was fruitless. He was too angry. He hated Ellen and he hated even more that he couldn't do anything about it. He roughly put his guitar in its case and turned the TV on. He channel surfed for a while until his phone rang, Damon picked it up eagerly, thinking it would be Emily but it wasn't a number he recognised.

"Hello, Damon speaking."

"Damon, how are you?"

"Walter? Is Mum ok? What happened?" There could only be one reason why his stepfather would ring.

"Fine, fine. I just was wondering if you were still with that Emily Kmetko girl. I just saw her make the Olympic team. Bloody brilliant work. Those gymnasts are tough."

Trust Walker, he couldn't care less about how he was doing but he would love to be able to brag that he was in some way connected to an Olympian. "Yeah Walter we're still together."

"Good, and she sorted out her problem with her court date? The judge called me after, saying that her coach didn't want the date changed or something."

So that's what happened. Damon almost swore under his breath. He'd been mad at Walter because he thought he'd stabbed him (and Emily) in the back, but no: Ellen had tried to ruin Emily's life. Again. "Wow I didn't realise she did that. Emily did have a bit of a rough patch but she's worked through it. Actually Walter could I ask you a huge favour? Well it's more for Emily really."

"Shoot" Walter said, intrigued. Being a corporate lawyer was well and good but it could be a bit dry at times so he revelled in anything a bit different.

Damon explained the situation "is there any way we can prevent her from going to the media?"

There was a short pause "I'll do my best. I think I can come up with a few things, from what you've said it sounds like she's messed around with a few girls already. Do you and Emily want to come and listen and watch? I've got a reversible mirror in one of my offices. It looks like a mirror on one side and a window on the other."

Damon grinned "I'd love to. I'll give you Ellen's contact details."

"Fantastic. And Damon?"

"Yeah"

"Your mother recently bought your new album. Your mother and I are very proud of you."

"Thanks Walter." Damon said stiffly, though he couldn't help grinning after he'd hung up. He'd waited for years to hear those words.

XXX

Maybe she could ask Damon to go swimming in a white shirt Emily mused as she and the other girls watched Colin Firth emerge from the lake. It sent shivers down her spine everytime. They were interrupted from their fantasising when Damon burst into the room.

"Em! I've just spoken to Walter, he thinks he can sort Ellen out!" He said then realised what they were watching. "Pride and Prejudice? That's your way of celebrating after you make the Olympic team?"

Kelly reluctantly paused the DVD. "Go sort your man out Em, and teach him some taste. Damon, P + P is a _classic_ if you can't appreciate it, you have issues."

"She's right" Rosa said, surprising everyone including herself. She clapped her hand over her mouth "sorry Damon, I just really like this story." Rosa was more than a bit intimidated by the older girls and she idolised Damon Young.

Damon chuckled "well I might have to read the book sometime Rosa, if you like it so much." He felt sorry for the 15 year old. "Em – come on!"

Emily rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's excitement. She'd forgotten how passionate he could be about things. She followed him out into the hall. "So fill me in."

He told her about how Walter had tried to change her court date but Ellen had screwed it up and about how he thought he could somehow stop Ellen from going to the press. Emily smiled at how happy he seemed. She often forgot how hard his childhood had been. Losing his dad and sister in a car accident had taken its toll on both Damon and his mother, they each hated themselves for still being alive and then when Claire moved on and married Walter, tweenage Damon found it impossible to handle: especially Walter's high expectations of him.

"So are you okay with this? I think it's our best bet. I don't want you distracted during the games, and I'm all for Ellen being dragged down a peg or two."

Emily smiled and took Damon's hands in hers "I love you, you know that right?"

"Of course" Damon said nervously. In his experience when girls said that sentence, it was never good.

"I am so happy for Walter to talk to Ellen, but I think you, or we, should tell Claire and Walter about James. Maybe even introduce them to him if Summer agrees."

"No" Damon said automatically without thinking. Memories of his childhood hurt too much that he instantly tried to block them out. "We don't have that sort of relationship."

Emily nodded, she had mixed feelings about what she'd do if her father ever decided to reappear. "Well it's your decision obviously but try to think of it from their perspective. He's their only grandchild."

Damon nodded. "I'll think about it."

XXX

The girls had weaselled out Emily what Damon's plan was so instead of just Emily and Damon looking in on Walter and Ellen, the other Rock girls, Darby and Sasha were coming too. After training of course. Emily, Pay, Rosa, Kaylie and Kelly were excited as they entered the Rock for their first Olympic training. That excitement soon turned to apprehension as they saw the look on Sasha's face.

"You're late. Practice starts at 7 am sharp. I expect you to be half an hour early from now on. 100 push ups each for your apathetic attitudes" he said calmly. Too calmly. Emily swore, she should have known that making the team would mean working harder. She had been so focused on just getting through nationals and trials that she'd given next to no thought about how hard training would actually be. Sasha made them do conditioning, with weights strapped to them. This bit killed Emily, she was the least strong of the girls but she gritted her teeth and thought of herself on the podium in London.

Once they'd finished their conditioning members of the NGO came to observe the training. The lower level Rock gymnasts came too, but they trained at the other end of the gym. They still watched the girls in awe whenever they could though. The Rock had become even more famous since it produced four of the five Olympians and many of the girls bragged about being friends with the elites. It was cute.

After conditioning the girls trained their events for half an hour each. Then they had a break and then did a mock prelims line up and finally they warmed down. It was gruelling but they were all together motivating each other further. Sasha also made them watch each other's routines and cheer each other on. He needed this team to be completely bonded, there was no way there was going to be a repeat of worlds. Finally have gave the words they'd been waiting to hear "good job. I'm all proud of you. There are improvements to be made but you all did well." He posted the team prelims line up and finals line up based on the practice on the whiteboard. He hated doing it but the NGO insisted and his girls were tough enough not to let it get to them.

The Olympians were stretching in a circle when there was a bit of commotion among the level 9 and 10s. Payson looked up – Lauren was here! The blonde girl was wearing jeans and t-shirt. Unusually, her face was free of makeup and she looked tired but not tense or stressed. Sasha looked up and beamed. He walked briskly over to her, brushing past the younger gymnasts gawping awkwardly. Pay, Emily, Kaylie and Kelly followed behind him quickly.

"Welcome back Tanner." Sasha said quietly and Lauren smiled shyly and hugged him.

Payson then remembered what Sasha had said two years ago, something that she'd always remember. She looked around the faces of the younger gymnasts "girls, a champion has returned, show me how you welcome back a champion!"

The level 9s and 10s took a couple of seconds and then burst into cheers. The parents, sitting in the parents' viewing area also stood up and clapped. Sasha looked at Payson. He was so proud of her.

Lauren grinned and gave a mock bow. "Thanks ladies, now I believe we have an appointment with the lovely Miss Beals?"

Sasha laughed and directed his elites to shower then meet him in the foyer. He motioned for Lauren to sit on a bench next to him. "I admire you for coming into the gym."

Lauren nodded "it was hard, but I want to show my support. I mean if I can't go to London, at least my best friends can."

Sasha smiled, amazed at how far this kid had come. "Well said, Tanner. What have you been up to?"

"You mean in the last 48 hours?"

Sasha laughed "wow, it feels so much longer!"

"A lot of nothing. Dad and I looked at wedding photos yesterday and visited her grave. We cried a lot and then I had a bowl of ice cream." Lauren paused "I'm going to be ok Sasha. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not even sure I want to retire, I mean I know I'm 19 but I think there's more I can do. But at the moment Dad and I are just getting to know each other again."

Sasha put an arm around her shoulder "if you decide not to retire, I'd be honoured to continue to coach you."

Lauren smiled "I wouldn't settle for anyone else."

Kelly, leading the rest of the Rock girls marched over to them. "Ready to see Ellen get it once and for all?"

"Easy Kel, we don't know what's going to happen yet." Emily said nervously. She hoped Walter had some watertight way of keeping Ellen quiet. She smiled as Kaylie gave her a quick hug.

Sasha cringed as Kaylie put Lady Gaga on full volume in his truck. "Child you really need to listen to some Ramones or Rolling Stones, heck I'd even settle for Guns n Roses." Sasha joked and Kaylie just poked her tongue out at him, making Sasha chuckle, he sometimes forgot just how young his athletes were. They picked up Damon and then went to Walter's offices. They were plush and had an air of business about them, much like the gym. A lot of hard work happened here.

Walter smiled as the five girls, Sasha and Damon converged on his office. He shook all their hands "It seems Ms Beals has made herself unpopular. I pity her, you seem like a formidable bunch." She said smiling at each of them. Like most lawyers he'd had to fight hard to get where he was today and he admired hard work above all else. "Now if you come through here you'll see this room seems like a window, but from the other side it's a mirror." They all nodded their understanding. Walter's associate gave them some tea and then they waited.

They made themselves comfortable, it was fairly squashed, the viewing room was small and there were a lot of them. It got even more uncomfortable when Darby joined them. She mumbled an apology before sitting down next to Emily. Sasha frowned. Darby was fastidious about punctuality and this was weird. She looked distracted too, Sasha made a mental note to check in with her, more for Emily's sake than anything else. He didn't want his athlete distracted. After a couple of minutes Ellen entered, she looked jaded as she shook Walter's hand.

"What can I do for you Mr Davidson?" She said pompously. Never having been to varsity, Ellen was inherently nervous around professionals. She was jealous.

"Just a few things Ellen. I have a client who would prefer it if you did not go to the media or any public forum regarding any members of the Olympic gymnastics team."

Ellen's eyes widened in surprise but she kept her cool. "Mr Davidson, I don't see how you can control this in any way."

Walter smiled. He could be a prick. And sometimes, not often, he enjoyed being one. "I beg to differ. If you could look through these please" he handed Ellen a thick wad of papers.

He watched smugly as Ellen's face paled as she began to read. "This is a quick summary of the criminal proceedings you will likely face if the police discover your interference with an athlete's drug testing, the claims the NGO will have against you as a breach of your employment agreement that states you are to uphold confidentiality about the athletes, the summary proceedings you'll likely face in London for breaching their special regulations in place for the Olympics, namely disturbing the peace. Finally you'll probably have a defamation action brought against you by the Kmetko family."

Ellen paled. "Mr Davidson, surely this is an overreaction."

Walter ploughed on "should you be found guilty of criminal proceedings you'll be restricted in where you can travel and your job opportunities will diminish. A breach of employment contract will result in you having to pay a serious amount of compensation, and because it's a high profile sport in an Olympic year, this will expose you to a lot of bad publicity. Finally the breach of regulations will mean you will never be able to enter the European Union again and defamation cases are very expensive. I'm talking seven zeros Ms Beals. Now if you'll excuse me I am a very busy man. But I want you to think long and hard about what I've given you. I imagine you're an intelligent lady Ms Beals and I would strongly caution against you throwing your life away for the sake of petty revenge." He stood up and held the door open for her.

All of the girls stared, jaws open. They had never seen Ellen get _owned_ like that. Kelly grinned. She now knew what she was going to be studying at uni: law! The Rock girls, Sasha, Darby and Damon all filed into Walter's office, Sasha slapped him on the back "well played", Emily grinned shyly "thanks" she said softly. And Walter smiled at her. He couldn't explain why but he really admired the slight girl. She had guts, and she'd also made Damon make something of his life – which was more than he or his mother had ever managed to do. The others all slowly left, keen to make the most of their break before afternoon training.

Damon remained behind. Wordlessly he hugged his stepfather for a long time "thanks Walter. Really, and I'm sorry for being such a useless stepson."

A lump rose in Walter's throat. "Son, Damon, and you weren't. You were hurting."

"I know but I should have gotten over myself and tried to move on."

"You have now."

Damon nodded. "Walter, there's something I need to tell you and Mum. Would I be able to meet both of you for lunch sometime this week?"

XXX

Damon was so nervous, his hands were clammy and shaking. Emily gripped his hand with hers tightly under the table. "It's going to be ok" she whispered "I'm here, and they're your parents, they love you."

Damon nodded: amazed at Emily's calmness. He supposed competing in a leotard in front of thousands made things like this easy in comparison.

Vivienne and Walter entered the small cafe, Walter striding confidently and Vivienne looking incredibly pale. She shared Damon's dark good looks and expressive eyes. She hadn't seen her son in person in years. Damon and Emily stood, Walter and Damon formally shook hands while Vivienne let Emily kiss her on the cheek. Vivienne then went to shake Damon's hand but Damon pulled her into a hug. She smiled, Damon had been very shy about showing affection after his father and sister died.

After they had exchanged small talk and drunk their coffee Walter cut to the chase "so you had something to tell us?"

Damon cleared his throat. "Um yes, we, I mean Emily no..."

Emily's hand still held onto Damon's she gave his hand a quick squeeze. "I'll tell them. Walter, Vivienne just over a year ago I had a son, his name is James, Damon is his father. As I wanted to return to gymnastics and did not have the financial means to raise a child I put him up for adoption. But I opted for an open adoption, I am still in relatively frequent contact with my son and he knows who Damon and I are, although his mother Summer will always be his main mother. We thought we should tell you and if you would like a relationship with him, Summer is more than happy to facilitate as are we. What Damon also wants to say, but finds it hard to, is that he misses you both and hopes that even if you don't want to have a relationship with your grandson, he can have a better relationship with you both."

Damon gave Emily a look of gratitude. If they weren't sitting in front of his parents he would have kissed her. Emily just smiled back: they were a team.

Vivienne started crying "we've got a grandson?"

Emily walked over to hug the older woman "he's gorgeous, he's got the same hair as you and Damon." She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a photo album documenting Damon's milestones. Vivienne put her arm around Emily's shoulder and looked at Damon "I'm proud of you, son."

Damon nodded, tears running down his own cheeks. They'd never be a conventional family, but that didn't mean they couldn't be close.

Walter cleared his throat "so young lady, how would you like two more supporters cheering you on at the games?"

Emily grinned and kissed Walter on the cheek "well if we've got you rooting us on I think we'll be invincible."

XXX

Sasha sat his girls in a circle on the mats. They'd just finished their last workout before leaving for London. He was fairly pleased with them. The team dynamic was much calmer and more focused than it had been last year. Which was exactly as it should be. They all looked exhausted but excited.

"Well done on getting this far and staying focused. You are about to experience one of the most amazing times of your lives. It is a time you've all worked hard for and deserve. I want each of you to remember that – remember how hard you've worked to get here, remember who you are. You are Olympians and no one can take that away from you. I want you all to go home and enjoy your last night with your families, relax and enjoy yourselves because as rewarding as the next three weeks will be, they will be hard."

Each of his athletes was listening to him intently, completely poised and focused. They each had an air of stillness about them, he knew it well. It was the same determination he himself had before his Olympics.

"But before we do that, I need you to choose a captain. That is not to say the captain will be the only leader: I expect you all to support each other. Having said that the role of captain is important, her job is to foster a team environment, be a sympathetic ear when needed but also give her teammates a kick up the butt when they need it." He handed each athlete a small piece of paper and a pen.

"Write your choice on your piece of paper and put it in here. I'll be back in 10 minutes."

Each girl wrote down her choice, although everyone knew what everyone else was writing. When Sasha came back he pulled out each piece of paper "six votes for Payson and one for Emily, congratulations captain." Sasha said softly, incredibly proud of the young woman sitting before him.

"Wow, girls are you sure?" Payson was genuinely shocked.

Kelly rolled her eyes. Pay was an amazing person but her humility could be _infuriating_. "Cut the false modesty Keeler and do the captainly thing and shout your team to some spruce juice."

Payson hugged her friend tightly before giving her a noogie. One by one the other girls jumped on Kelly and Payson tickling them and giggling. Sasha sighed. Sometimes he thought he understood teenage girls, and then things like this happened.

**A/N Ellen is done! Gone! Over! Hope you're pleased. And next chapter we're at the Olympics baby, and then this story is nearly over . Who's excited for the real Olympics? I'm so going to get no work done next week! Thank you all so much for your reviews and as always let me know what you thought **


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: Audere est Facere**

Kaylie took a deep breath, the Olympic village was huge, she could hardly believe she was here. This felt like a dream. She wasn't like her teammates who had iron clad focus, who had believed in themselves since day one, she always had some niggling self doubt that made her question whether she really deserved her achievements. But now she was here she just wanted to do her best. Austin linked his hand with hers and Kaylie tucked her head under his chin. He stood strong and steady.

"Excited?"

She smiled "I think so."

Austin pulled her into a hug. "You think so?"

"Mmm, I mean it's amazing and all but I miss Lauren. I never thought I'd say that but there you have it and I guess I'm nervous I'll make a mistake."

Austin grinned at how cute Kaylie was "Lauren's proud of you, finally. And of course you're going to make mistakes. I know it sounds stupid but just relax and enjoy it, this is the chance of a lifetime: don't waste it being nervous."

Kaylie rolled her eyes "yes Mr Kolbalt"

"I'm serious, Kaylie. You've earned your right to be here. Do your best, make Lauren proud. You're not going to help anyone by being scared."

Kaylie felt tears spring to her eyes. Austin could read her so well. She hugged Austin tightly. "I'll try. For you, and for Lauren, and for everyone else."

Austin kissed her. He loved how Kaylie was so down to earth when she was an Olympian, gorgeous and loaded. But sometimes he worried about her lack of confidence. "I know you will."

XXX

The girls sat in a circle, stretching in the royal blue leos they were going to wear for qualification: Sasha, worshipper of punctuality that he was, insisted that they be at the arena 45 minutes before they were meant to be there. Payson thought Sasha was the best coach ever but she couldn't help thinking that if this was her team she wouldn't do this because it was psyching Kaylie and Rosa out. The two girls looked progressively more nervous as she led them in each stretch.

"And stop. Good work." Sasha said, taking a deep breath. It was one thing to be an athlete competing, it was quite another to coach. At least being an athlete you had some sort of control: over your own performances at least, coaching just meant watching, hoping and praying that years of hard work would pay off.

He looked each of them in the eyes "how are we feeling?"

Kelly grinned at him, Payson looked at him seriously, Emily and the other two looked down. "We're ready" Payson said calmly.

Sasha smiled. "Well just in case you aren't, your assistant coach wanted to give you a few words." Payson was confused, she knew each team had to have one male and one female coach on the podium but she hadn't thought much about it, Rosa's coach was a guy but his wife helped out with the coaching so she assumed that she'd be the assistant coach, or maybe Darby, but that would have looked biased towards the Rock girls. She hadn't really worried about it much, all she needed was Sasha on the podium with her.

Then Kaylie and Kelly squealed and Payson looked up. Lauren was standing there! Kaylie sprinted over to hug her friend tightly, Emily followed closely behind her. Kelly gave one of her famous half smiles "it's about time you showed up, Tanner."

Lauren laughed "some of us have been busy, us coaches are very important people, we can't all play around in leotards all day." She quipped, almost keeping the pain out of her voice. Sasha gently squeezed her shoulder. The simple gesture helped her incredibly "now girls gather round. Very soon you'll walk through that door into the arena. I want you to ignore the cameras, the commentators, even the judges. You are the best in the world, all you need to do is your usual routines – you have absolutely nothing to be worried about. Go out there and show them who you are!" She put her hand in the middle of their huddle, Payson smiled and placed her hand on top of Lauren's the other girls and Sasha followed suit. Lauren nodded at Payson.

"Girls U-S-A on three, one, two, three..."

"USA!" they yelled.

Sasha smiled. That was more like it. "Line up ladies. We're about to get called in. He went to the front Rosa, the shortest, followed by Kaylie, Kelly and Emily. Payson thanks to her injury and time off was now the tallest, she hung back a bit with Lauren. "That was very big of you, Lo, agreeing to be assistant coach."

Lauren looked at Payson, to anyone else she would have lied and said it was a pleasure. But this was Payson, perhaps the person she admired more than anyone else in the world. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done, taking Sasha up on it, but I had to. For Kaylie."

Payson blinked rapidly to stop herself crying and making her mascara run, she hugged Lauren fiercely. "She is truly lucky to have you as a friend."

Lauren was almost in tears herself. Never, in a million years would she expect someone to say that to her. "Come on Keeler, we can't be a mess, not now, we have some finals to qualify for."

Payson grinned "sorry coach."

"You should be."

XXX

The USA drew Olympic order for qualifying. Sasha had had an agonising decision about who to put up on some of the events but vault wasn't one of them. Emily was easily the weakest vaulter compared to the other four so it was fairly easy to decide who to put on vault, even the order was straightforward. He walked over to Payson, his most special athlete gave him a small smile, but she was in her zone: she knew what she needed to do and there was nothing more he needed to say to her. He gave her a brief hug, then her name was announced, she smiled, ran towards the vaulting table and did her round off back handspring then her two and a half twists. She stuck her Amanar cold, her teammates were screaming. Payson grinned genuinely this time and saluted the judges. That would show people who thought she couldn't recover after nationals! She hugged her coaches and teammates then went over to Rosa who was vaulting next. The 15 year old looked like she might throw up.

"You've got this" Pay whispered "you're the winner of Olympic trials, and your vault is one of the best in the world. Now it's time to show everyone why. Don't worry about anything else, it's just you and the vault."

Rosa nodded forced a smile and then went to compete the best Rudi Payson had ever seen her do, then she came back and performed her double twisting yurchenko. It was the best DTY in the world and when Rosa's score came up the crowd went crazy – her vaults received a 16.1 and a 15.5: an average of 15.8. Sasha grinned, and the crazy thing was, those scores probably wouldn't be enough to qualify her to event finals because Kelly and Kaylie were better. Kaylie was up next, Lauren went up to her "you're ready, Kaylie. You can do this." Lauren looked earnestly at her friend.

Kaylie gave Lauren a quick fist bump and saluted the judges. Everyone who she cared about was in the arena, nobody could stop her now! She, like Payson had an Amanar vault, she also had a Mustafina. In typical Kaylie fashion she had fantastic execution on both, she received a 16.15 for her Amanar and at 15.9 for her second vault. As always Kaylie got a huge cheer from the crowd. No matter what happened results wise, Kaylie would always be one of America's sweethearts Sasha thought to himself. That would get her into event finals for sure though. Finally Kelly saluted the judges, she had the two hardest vaults in the world, apart from Lauren and she walked up to the podium like she knew it. She did her Amanar and her Cheng, almost sticking her Amanar and sticking her Cheng cold, she received a 16.1 and a 16.2. Sasha let out a whoop and picked Kelly up and spun her around. Kelly pretended to be unimpressed but inside she was ecstatic that she'd finally found her place in the team and that she managed to shine, even if she wasn't going to be in the all around.

And suddenly it was time for bars. The butterflies in Emily's stomach that had been fluttering quietly during vault while she was watching her teammates went absolutely crazy. She forced herself to breathe, long deep breaths, visualising her routine. Lauren came and sat next to her, holding her hand and not saying anything. But she didn't need to.

Meanwhile Sasha was adjusting the springboard for Rosa. He saw that she was shaking. This was not good. He looked over to his second gymnast up on bars "Kelly?"

Kelly walked over to him "you want me to go first." It wasn't a question.

Sasha nodded. It was a rough thing to ask, for a gymnast to anchor one rotation then be first up on the next, especially since scores tended to get higher later on, usually the first score was the lowest. It would effectively end her chances of getting in an event final, one she was unlikely to make since Pay and Emily had been consistently outperforming her. Even so she was the reigning silver medallist on the uneven bars. "Only if you want to, I understand it is a lot to ask."

Kelly nodded, Sasha genuinely meant that, if she refused he wouldn't hold it against her. "I'd be happy to." A year ago that would have been a lie but Kelly had learned a couple of things since then. Putting the team first was second nature to her now.

Sasha gave her a brief hug. "And I'm also going to switch places with Rosa's coach."

Kelly nodded "I was about to suggest that, she needs her coach now, and we've got Lo."

Sasha smiled and hugged her "I'm proud of you."

And with those words of encouragement Kelly went and smashed the bars routine of her life. She got a 15.6. Rosa after a pep talk from her coach managed to do well on her weakest event scoring a 15.1: it would be a great score for any other country, but it was almost certainly going to be the score that the USA dropped. Sasha and Rosa's coach switched places and Sasha walked over to Payson. "You. Are. A. Champion he said slowly." Payson simply nodded at him. She was in her zone, like the fierce Payson of old. No one could stop her; the only difference now was that she had amazing execution to match her crazy power moves. She saluted the judges and jumped to the low bar, swinging fluidly, handstands perfectly perpendicular to the bars, tkatchevs sky high and finally dismounting with her double twisting double layout, sticking it cold. The crowd went crazy: Payson was their favourite. She smiled regally and went to hug her coach, when her score was announced the cheers from the crowd became full on screams. Payson's routine had a 7.1 difficulty value and her routine had scored a 16.4, although Sasha had no idea what the deductions would be for. He kissed Payson on the top of her head "I cannot express how proud I am of you." He said before moving over to the team's anchor on the event.

It broke Sasha's heart that he couldn't really use Kaylie on this event, and taking her out of all around contention but Emily, Kelly and Payson were all miles ahead of her, and there was no way he could keep Rosa out of the all around. He walked over to Emily, handing her her grips. She took them quietly. "Look at me" Sasha whispered, Emily obeyed. "this is your time, Emily. I have watched you evolve from an unconfident young girl to one of the most confident, exquisite gymnasts in the world. All I ask of you is to believe in yourself. Can you do that?"

Emily looked at Sasha, the coach who had pushed her harder than she'd thought possible, then up at the stands where Darby was smiling at her. Next to her was Chloe, then Margi, then Summer with James and finally Damon and Brian. Now she understood what Kaylie meant when she said that if she had her friends and family around her, she could do anything. "Yes, Sasha I can."

"That's my girl."

Emily saluted the judges, the way the Russian girls did one arm in the air, the other at her side. She jumped to the high bar, feeling at once like she was part of the apparatus and it was part of her. She let her body take over as it remembered the routine that she'd practiced more times than she could remember and then she dismounted. The stadium erupted. Emily was shocked; she'd never heard cheers that loud _for her_ before, she saluted the judges and went to hug her coach, she grinned at her 16.4: she was tied with Payson!

The balance beam was the nemesis of many gymnasts. Sasha was thoroughly relieved he had enough strong beam workers not to have to use Emily on here, but this was the event where the USA would miss Lauren the most. She'd been rock solid on the apparatus since she was a junior. Lauren stood next to Kelly, the table setter for the beam "you've got this"

Kelly looked at her former arch rival. It was weird that they were the closest of allies now, united in support of their teammates. She felt so sad for her. If she'd been on the team she would probably be anchoring the event, or at least be second to last. "Lauren, I don't want to sound soppy and pathetic, but I'm doing this routine for you." She put a quick hand on Lauren's shoulder and mounted the beam.

Sasha's hand flew to his mouth. Kelly was usually steady on beam, she rarely fell but her execution wasn't great, she usually had a couple of balance checks but today she was BAMFing beam. Her execution was almost perfect, it didn't have the fluidity of Payson's routine but her connections were instant, her leaps always at least 180 and she stuck her Patterson dismount. When she dismounted, he saw that Lauren looked like she might cry. Then he understood, Kelly was doing her routine as a tribute. His heart swelled with pride, these kids were _finally_ learning the meaning of team. He really wished he could have had her try for the all around, she had been amazing so far today but all the others were far better than her on floor. The only consolation was that she now had a legitimate shot a beam finals which he would not have expected of her. Her score came up 15.6, that was _huge_ on beam for Kelly.

Payson was up next, Sasha gave her a brief hug, she returned it but she looked tired. Sasha swore under his breath. She needed to conserve her energy! But they were halfway through and he didn't want to spook her. Payson saluted the judges and did her routine. It was exquisite as usual, but it lacked the passion that Kelly's did. But she still earned a 15.55. Rosa looked more confident than she had on bars, she did the first half of her routine beautifully but she had a big balance check and almost grabbed the beam, but instead of falling off, she kept going and stuck her double tucked dismount. Sasha hugged her tightly "well done" the kid's mental toughness was amazing. Her 15.2 was mammoth considering her balance check. He looked at Kelly, she looked less than thrilled. Sasha knew why. After three rotations Pay was on 48.05, Kelly on 47.35 and Rosa on 46.10, if Kelly was doing floor she would probably be the second all arounder. It had to hurt, especially since Kelly was the only one on the team who had been an all around world champion and who had competed in the AA final the year before. Sasha pushed it to the back of his mind, he still had one beam routine to get through.

Kaylie looked calm. That was good, she smiled at him "I'm ready." He hugged her tightly and watched her compete the routine of her life. Resting her on bars had been wise, Sasha realised. Kaylie dismounted and received a 15.75. The former national champion had just won herself a spot on her second event final. Lauren hugged Kaylie tightly.

Then it was time for floor. Sasha was torn, he was seriously considering pulling Kaylie and putting Kelly in. Kaylie would outscore Kelly but Kaylie wouldn't make event finals in floor because Emily and Payson were better than her. He took a deep breath. Even if Kelly only got 14 on this event, she'd probably qualify to the all around. He sighed, but then Rosa had won trials, he ran his hands through his hair and sighed. It was almost time for Rosa to compete. There was a tap on his shoulder, "Sasha?"

He looked down and saw Kelly looking up at him. She had a funny look on her face. He groaned inwardly – he had to let her have a shot at least of competing AA. "Kelly I want you to go on floor, instead of Kaylie. You're on the verge of breaking 60+, maybe 65 if you have the routine of your life that deserves some recognition."

Kelly shook her head vehemently. "No, coach."

Sasha frowned "but Kaylie probably won't make floor finals" he whispered, he could tell people were staring at them, wondering what was going on. He glanced over at the other girls who were quickly warming up on floor.

"But if I qualify for the all around, Rosa won't make any finals at all. And she deserves it." Kelly gulped, swallowing to avoid tears "I've..I've had my time. It's Rosa's time now." She was fully crying now. And Sasha's heart was breaking. He hugged her tightly and motioned for Lauren to look after her. Why did his girls have to be so damn noble, he was struggling to hold back tears as well.

"Rosa" the younger girl looked at him, he had a funny feeling that she knew the gist of his and Kelly's conversation. "I want you to go out there and absolutely nail your floor routine. You were the top qualifier at Olympic trials, go and show the judges why."

And she did. With her peppy choreography and sky high tumbling Rosa won the crowd over and they were soon clapping along. She posted a respectable 14.8 – good for a floor score, the most harshly marked apparatus. Then Kaylie competed her routine, a huge smile on her face. The girl was passionate about her sport again and it showed: she played to the crowd and they loved her for it, Superchick instrumental definitely suited her, she received a 15.1: that would be the top score of many teams, but not this one. When Kaylie finished she went and hugged Kelly tightly, for a long time. "You're amazing, thank you for letting me do that routine one last time, she whispered with tears in her eyes." Kelly hugged her back but didn't say anything, she couldn't. She'd just given up an opportunity to compete for Olympic all around gold, but she'd learned that some things were more important. Her voice a little wobbly from crying she cheered Emily on.

Emily looked at the floor – looked at the stands and saluted the judges then her music started and she danced. She threw her life into the music. It was hard to explain but Damon understood what she meant. He said he did the same when he was songwriting. She ran into her tumbling passes putting the passion for her sports, for Damon, for James, for her family into it. She used her dancing to show how much she appreciated them, her eyes alive. Finally she knelt into her final pose. She could hear Darby and Chloe screaming from the stands. Lauren ran over to her and almost knocked her over. "You're a freaking legend Em." Emily grinned, still out of breath. She looked up to the scoreboard at 15.8! Her routine was valued at 6.3 difficulty, she'd got a 9.5 execution on floor! She quickly gave Payson a quick hug before her captain finished the day for the USA.

Payson saluted the judges and walked to the centre of the floor. Her routine told a different story every time she did it. She had decided what this story would be, the most special story of her life so far: Sasha. When she tumbled she thought of all the times he'd pushed her to her limits physically and mentally, and when he'd carried her dream for her when she had nothing left. Her quadruple turn she used to indicate her excitement when he was around, her dancing showed how much she loved him. When she finished she centred herself so that she looked at him just before she fell into her finishing pose. When her music stopped she suddenly became aware of the crowd going absolutely insane. She'd barely saluted the judges and walked off the floor when Kelly, tears streaming down her face ran to hug her. The other girls were close behind, but they moved out of the way when Sasha walked over. His eyes looked desperate, like he wanted to kiss her. Instead he settled for picking her up and hugging her tightly. "Thank you, Payson no one has ever done anything that nice for me ever." He kissed her on the cheek then gave her back to her teammates, scared that he'd go too far otherwise. Payson wanted to answer him but she found she couldn't, instead she just nodded. It had been a very emotionally charged day.

The crowd went even crazier, Payson's score had just been posted – a 16.5. Payson blinked, that couldn't be right, her start value was only 6.5, that would have to mean.

"Holy freaking wow Pay, that's a perfect ten!" Lauren screeched, Payson's jaw dropped, stunned. Sasha uncharacteristically fistpumped the air. "God Pay you're amazing."

Payson couldn't believe it. She looked at her teammates. She was so incredibly proud of all of them. They'd qualified first, by almost three points. Kelly, Kaylie and Emily were in two event finals each, Rosa was in the AA and Lauren had acted classier than she could have believed possible. But she was most impressed with Kelly's selflessness. She had not expected that at all. She hugged them all tightly before they went to talk to the media and then get a well earned rest.

**OT Eep I can't believe we're at the Olympics. And with the real Olympics I was **_**so **_** sad for Jordyn but so happy for Aly! Totally conflicting emotions! Can't wait for team finals. Anyway I hoped you liked the chapter especially Lauren coming in and Kelly being such a class act, who knew she had it in her? Any way as always let me know what you thought! xx**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Mothers, daughters and sisters**

Sasha glared at his team, lined up in height order standing 'to attention' this was the most special team he'd ever coach and for the most part he liked coaching in the States more than Romania but sometimes he missed the iron focus that was common among the Romanian girls. For them gymnastics didn't just mean being able to amazing tricks and pushing personal limits, it meant, for many of them, pulling themselves and their families out of poverty. Consequently he hardly ever had to worry about drama or lack of concentration. Today's light training before team finals had been a disaster. Payson had been steady. Kaylie had been steady, but Rosa was acting as though she was terrified of him, Kaylie was jittery and Emily was having self confidence issues. He took a deep breath. He wasn't going to yell.

"Today was not your best. You know this. Team finals are tomorrow. I have done everything I can. The rest is up to you. Tomorrow you have the chance to prove that you are the best team in the world. If you do what you did yesterday you will succeed in that goal. If you let a flicker of a doubt enter your minds, you will fail. The outcome is yours to determine. I will see you tomorrow at 10am." He turned at walked off.

Payson watched Sasha go, her heart beating faintly, partly from nerves but 90% because Sasha looked hot when he was mad. Then she saw that her team was looking at her for guidance. She almost rolled her eyes. They were the best team in the world, but they were also the most headcasey. She put her arms around Emily and Rosa and the others all followed suit until they were in their familiar huddle. Payson loved how this felt like family, she couldn't explain how or why but she was closer to these girls than almost anyone else in the world.

"Kelly, you rocked it today. You are one of the best all around gymnasts in the world and I can't wait to see your vault and beam tomorrow. Your vault terrifies me, it's that good." Kelly winked at Pay and poked her tongue out. Payson returned the gesture.

"Kaylie: I don't know what happened at practice today but you're brave and talented and we're all here supporting you. Austin and your parents will be in the stand. Just do what you do every day in the gym. Emily, remember how much you love gymnastics. Just think about how you feel when you do your bar routine and floor routine. It really shows when you perform." Emily smiled and nodded. She loved how Payson could calm them down.

Finally Payson addressed the youngest member of the team, "Rosa, you qualified fifth to the all around, you won Olympic Trials, and you have the highest level of difficulty on beam in the world. And you're one of the youngest Olympians from any country. You have no reason to be nervous. Go out tomorrow and show everyone why you're here." Payson hugged her teammates and went back to her hotel room; she needed to be alone to focus on tomorrow.

XXX

Emily and Darby sat on the couch in Margi's motel. Emily was braiding Darby's hair and Darby was drinking a cup of Earl Grey. She was adamant to get into English culture, but she was struggling to like tea, coffee was definitely more her thing. "I've missed you." Emily told Darby "I hardly see you with Sasha and Lauren coaching us. Were you annoyed at not being assistant coach?"

"Not really, it would have been unfair for you to have two people who personally coached you and it's nice that Lauren gets to be on the floor with you when you compete."

Emily grinned "that was one of Sasha's more brilliant ideas." She got up to respond to the knock on the door. She smiled when Larissa almost bowled her over, and she gave Jenna a quick hug too. The quieter girl gave her a rare smile. She saved her biggest hug of all for Margi.

"How's my favourite Olympian? Child you almost made me lose my voice yesterday, I was screaming so much" said the older woman proudly as she wrapped Emily in a bear hug.

Emily shrugged "you'd be screaming whether or not I was doing well" she quipped.

Margi laughed. She was so pleased at how confident Emily had become over the past couple of years. "Tea girls?"

"Please" Larissa said, she was fond of tea. It made her feel so grown up.

Jenna poked her tongue out a Margi "yuck!" she exclaimed. For once seeming like a normal girl. Darby smiled at that. She was tortured seeing her daughter everyday and not being able to take an active role in her life. "I'm with Jenna; we'll have juice if you're offering." She smiled at Jenna but she looked away shyly. Darby sighed. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. She had to tell Jenna soon or she was going to explode.

XXX

Payson was resting (as usual), Emily was with Margi, Kaylie and Lauren were watching some insipid girly movie and Kelly was bored. She put down her book, pulled out her headphones and got into some running shorts. Technically they weren't allowed to leave the village unless Sasha let them but she highly doubted that Sasha would reprimand her for going for a walk. Actually he probably would but there was no way in hell she was going to sit in her room thinking about how she was the only person who didn't have anyone in London to meet up with who cared about her. She was at the freaking Olympics and she wasn't going to spend it wallowing in self pity, she was going to find some hot swimmers to look at. She shoved her hair into a messy ponytail and walked down the hall. She walked past Kaylie's room and heard giggling. Kelly rolled her eyes. She loved Kaylie and Lauren to bits but sometimes she felt a lot more than one year older than them. In the next room she heard something quieter, something beautiful. She paused for a moment and listened. It was the Phantom of the Opera's Music of the Night. Someone was playing it on the clarinet. With a start she realised this must be Rosa's room. She felt guilty that she hadn't even been in the room until now. She knocked softly; half hoping that Rosa wouldn't hear her so that the music wouldn't stop.

Rosa opened the door shyly. When she saw it was Kelly she looked frightened. Kelly resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She hated when people were scared of her. She had a hard exterior, sure but she was just like everyone else.

"Hey Rosa, can I come in?" She asked softly.

Rosa nodded and opened the door wider. She made a beeline for her clarinet that she'd left lying on her bed.

Kelly smiled "don't hide it! I never knew you played clarinet, that's freaking awesome. I wish I was musical."

Rosa's eyes widened "really? I thought the rest of you would think it stupid."

Kelly's heart melted. She had never stopped to consider how hard it must be for Rosa. She was with four girls, all significantly older than her, all who trained at the same gym and all of whom were coached by the head coach of her team. She realised now why Payson had been quick to take the younger girl under her wing but Payson was pretty intimidating. She was gorgeous, nice and the best gymnast in the world probably, despite the result of trials. Maybe she needed someone less perfect, someone like Kelly. "No way, if you've got a talent, show it off. How long have you been playing?"

"Five years" a smile crept onto the fifteen year old's face "my Mum made me take it up when I broke my ankle and was out for almost a year. It's what I do when I want to relax."

Kelly felt like slapping herself. There was so much she didn't know about her teammate. "It sounded amazing. I'm no musician but it sounded like a professional was playing it or something."

Rosa smiled shyly "you think?"

"I think"

Rosa grinned, making her look even younger than she was. Then a frown passed across her face "hey Kelly, I'm sorry."

Now Kelly was confused. "What for kid?" she regretted saying 'kid' as soon as the word was out of her mouth. She'd been the youngest member of the World's team in 2009 and it had been a pain being patronised all the time.

"Taking your spot in the all around. I sucked in qualifying. I didn't qualify to any event finals and the only reason I made the all around is because there were only two Americans doing all four apparatus." She sounded like she hated herself.

Kelly took a deep breath. "Rosa, I'm going to be honest, not making the all around final was one of the hardest things I have ever had to give up. All of us dream of being the all around Olympic Champion. It's what keeps us going when we're exhausted and dead on our feet. But don't you dare apologise for making the final. You deserved it. Sure you were wobbly yesterday but you earned your place. You were the fourth best in the world in qualifying and the last time I checked the top 24 all arounders qualify."

"But you would have qualified if you'd done floor."

"We don't know that, I might have fallen."

"Please! You never fall."

Kelly rolled her eyes. Where did her teammates get all this guilt from? It drove her insane! She was old school, if you won something you were happy, none of this crap about feeling sorry for your teammates. "Do you want to know why I didn't let Sasha make me go on floor?"

Rosa was mad now "obviously because you felt sorry for me, you didn't want poor little Rosa who somehow accidentally won trials to not be in any individual finals."

Kelly felt like shaking the younger girl. "Nope!"

"Really? Why then, and don't patronise me!"

"Because you're the better gymnast, you deserve to be in the all around more than me. And you earned your win at trials."

"No I'm not; you're a two time all around world champion. I just... I don't know... got the judges in a good mood or something."

Kelly sighed. She felt like she was talking to Emily. What was it about people lacking self esteem? She put her arm around Rosa "your degree of difficulty on beam is the highest in the world, and the only reason why you didn't make event finals is because our team's so strong. If you'd been competing for any other team you'd probably be in all four. And you can easily win silver if you hit in the all around, you might even challenge Pay if she's having an off day."

"Which she won't"

"You don't know that, and the best I can do is challenge for the bronze. I'm not strong enough on floor. Let's be honest I can't dance to save myself and my forward tumbling isn't anything to write home about."

Rosa had stopped listening "you think I can win silver?"

"It's yours to lose Rosa."

Rosa grinned and immediately sat up straighter. That made Kelly feel amazing. So that was why Payson was so encouraging. It made her a better person, too. She gave Rosa a brief hug. "I'll leave you to your clarinet playing. I expect to hear great things from you on it."

Rosa smiled "if I ever make it, you'll get a free ticket to my first concert."

"I should hope so!" Kelly stood up to leave.

"And Kelly?"

"Mmm?"

"Thanks for not babying me."

"You're welcome." Kelly pulled the door closed. Sometimes, you could make friends in the strangest places, she mused to herself. She pulled her phone out from her pocket and stared at it. What had happened to her mother to make her so bitter? Had there been a time when they were a normal family? Before all the gymnastics had taken over their lives. For the first time in months Kelly felt ready to contact her mother.

_Hi Mum_

_Hope you're well. I'm chilling with the girls in the village. About to read some Great Expectations. I was just remembering how you used to read it to me when I was sick: it was my favourite story. I guess I just wanted to say thanks. It must have been hard having to do that after waiting tables all day. I hope you're well. I love you Mum_

_K_

Kelly sent the text before she had time to get angry or overthink it. It wouldn't cure cancer or bring about world peace or anything but maybe it would be the olive branch that Sheila needed. She went back to her room and began to read one of her favourite books of all time and cherish the memory of her curled up in her mother's arm as the familiar words were read to her.

XXX

Darby glared at her plate. Why did she have to know about Jenna? Ever since she'd found out it was like she was in a trap. She couldn't go two minutes without thinking about her daughter. It hurt even more that she was so quiet and different to her. Then she felt guilty about thinking about Jenna when she should be worrying about Emily. She sighed.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Margi asked across the table "whatever's bothering you, you shouldn't take it out on the poor carrots."

Darby put down her fork deliberately slowly. Normally she would have laughed at that comment but the best she could muster was a forced smile. For some reason she was jealous of Margi. It was irrational and selfish and petty but Darby couldn't help it. She'd managed to shut off all of her feelings towards her daughter for so long that now she felt like she was a ticking bomb. "Jenna." She said simply.

Margi sighed, walked over to the younger woman and put an arm around her shoulder. "I can't imagine what you're going through."

"What do I do? I can't tell her now, not with everything going on with Emily. That's not fair to her."

"No it's not. Why don't you write Jenna a letter and not give it to her till after floor finals."

Darby nodded. She and Margi sat in silence for the remainder of their meal; Darby suspected Margi knew there wasn't anything else she could say that could help. As soon as she'd done the washing up Darby locked herself in her room and began to write. She was surprised at how easily the words came.

XXX

Payson and Emily's alarm went off. Payson quickly jumped out of bed and Emily threw her pillow at the alarm. Payson grinned, for someone who had to get up at 5.30am six days a week Emily was exceptionally grumpy in the morning.

"Throwing the pillow hasn't done anything for the past two weeks, what change do you think it will make now?" Payson quipped.

"Mmmf, too sleepy to think of a comeback." Emily mumbled. Then she looked at her watch. It had the date "holy crap it's team finals today!" She threw her duvet off her bed and jumped out of it. She walked over to Payson and hugged her tightly.

"It's really here, can you believe it Em?" Payson asked her best friend, her stomach tingling.

Emily smiled shyly "Yes, no – I don't know. It feels like a dream. All that hard work."

"Listen to Sasha yelling." Payson said with a twinkle in her eye.

"And Lauren's bitching." Emily said remembering the incident with the leotard and the slushy.

"And Ellen Beals" Payson sighed making Emily cringe.

"There's no one I'd rather be rooming with Em, and I am so, so happy and so proud of you."

Payson's words almost made Emily cry. She'd never had a more loyal friend. "I'm pretty proud of you too Keeler."

They were interrupted by Kelly banging on the door. "Open up I've got make up and leos!" Emily quickly let her in.

"You're still in your PJ's?" Kelly asked incredulously "I've been up for hours." She said loudly quickly making herself at home in the bathroom, sorting out the lipstick, eyeshadow, mascara and foundation. Rosa followed her carrying the leotards she'd got out of her coach's room. "I'm so glad we decided on the flags" she said.

"Me too" Emily agreed. The leotards were similar to the 1996 team's although they were more blue and red than white and the colours were brighter. Despite being so bright, they suited all of the team. Though Payson and Emily had to wear darker foundation so that they didn't look washed out. After a few minutes Kaylie and Lauren joined them: Lauren in her coach's tracksuit. The girls expertly did each other's make up like they'd done thousands of times. Then they put on their leos. They linked arms in front of the mirror, like they had before worlds. Payson grinned at her team. Her red lipstick and the blue in her leo bringing out her eyes even more than usual. "Let's get this!"

**A/N** SO sorry about the late update, uni's been crazy busy and I'm developing attachment issues to this story, it's so close to ending and I don't want it to so I've been putting off writing it. Naughty I know! Anyway please let me know what you thought, and thank you for all your reviews for the last chapter :D:D


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26 – Hearts of Champions**

Chloe was certain her heart would burst with pride when she saw her daughter walk out with her team. She could hardly believe the confident young woman was the shy and timid little girl who worked hard but could never believe in herself. She smiled as Damon squeezed her shoulders tightly. He was more excited than she was, if that was possible. He'd been telling James about how his Mummy was amazing. The little boy was beginning to look remarkably like Damon, but he had Summer's mannerisms. He was bubbly and very polite: Summer certainly was an amazing mother. And Margi was so grateful about how readily she shared James with them when she didn't have to. Summer, Margi, Damon, Chloe and Brian all stood up and screamed when Emily's name was announced along with the rest of the US team.

The huge support from the crowd humbled Emily. Payson and Kelly liked to shut out the crowd, but Emily liked to absorb it and use it to boost her self esteem. Having qualified first, the US was first on vault. Emily and Payson weren't competing on that apparatus so they stayed by Lauren and screamed their lungs out as the other three lined up. Payson squeezed Lauren's hand as Rosa went up: had Lauren made the team her handspring double front half would have been named after her. And it would have been the most difficult vault in the competition. Lauren briefly rested her head on Pay's shoulder then joined in the cheering. It was time to support the team. Her own crushed dreams had to take a back seat for now.

Rosa saluted the judges. Her jittery posture from qualifications replaced with a calm confidence. She sprinted towards the vaulting horse and performed a sky high Rudi and landed almost perfectly with just a small hop. She saluted the judges and grinned. Emily and Payson hugged her and she received a high five from Kelly. Then they watched Kaylie nervously. Sasha had a feeling that Kaylie didn't think she was good enough to vault for the team despite her easily making event finals. He nodded to Lauren, who went over to her best friend "kill this Kaylie."

Kaylie shook her head "they should have used Payson, what if I blow it?"

Lauren tried hard not to roll her eyes. Kaylie was the opposite of her. Lauren could sometimes be prone to overconfidence or got jealous, Kaylie on the other hand seldom got jealous but she still didn't seem to quite believe in how good she was. "Sasha knows what he's doing. If he thought Payson would vault better he would have put her in."

Kaylie nodded. She felt nervous but she looked at Sasha, who nodded sternly at her, then to Rosa, Pay, Emily and Kelly who were screaming their support. She couldn't do it for herself but she could do it for her. She hugged Lauren and sprinted towards the vaulting table. He body took over and before she knew it she landed, she quickly moved her feet so she would stick her Amanar: she did. She grinned, now she just had beam to worry about.

Lauren looked over her shoulder at the Russian team. They looked less than thrilled. For half a second the old catty Lauren rose her ugly head and wanted to sneer at them but she resisted and just smiled at them. The US purposefully didn't watch the Russians' vaults or the Romanians on bars. Kaylie and Rosa walked through their beam routines on the floor while Emily, Payson and Kelly visualised their bars routines.

Sasha watched Kelly and Payson absolutely nail their bar routines. They had huge difficulty but they both acted as if they could do the routines in their sleep. He hugged them each tightly before adjusting the bars for Emily. Lauren looked over at her former rival and saw that Emily looked nervous. Too nervous. Quickly she ducked behind the barrier and dragged Darby over to her "you need to go in!"

"What?" Darby had been up all night thinking about Jenna.

"Em needs you, go!"

Darby finally snapped into it and went out to her gymnast. Her heart melted when she saw her. She had never been so close to a gymnast before. All those workouts, getting around Ellen, helping her to learn how to believe in herself: it all came down to this. She hugged Emily tightly.

"I think I'm going to puke."

Darby forced herself not to laugh. That was exactly how she'd felt. "Em – look at me" she said sternly, and Emily obeyed her coach as she'd been trained to do when Darby used that tone. "Do this for James."

Emily bit her lip and looked up to the stands, she saw Chloe and instantly felt calm. "Thanks Darby" she straightened her back and saluted the judges. She jumped to the high bar. Suddenly she was at the gym for the first time since giving birth to James, then she was completing her bar routine for the first time in front of Damon, then she was at Damon's first concert in Boulder listening to his song dedicated to him, then she was watching James's first steps, hugging Chloe as she got promoted to the head hairdresser at her salon, watching Brian receive his high school diploma a year early. Finally she was with Darby as the Olympic team was named. And then she realised she'd dismounted. She grinned. And jumped into Darby's arms. They were halfway there.

Sasha looked at the scoreboard. Emily had scored a massive 16.6: higher even than Payson. The Russians had been impressive on bars too and the Romanians still had floor and vault to go: their two strongest apparatus. It was going to be close. They were first up on beam: the apparatus which was often responsible for making or breaking a team's competition. He had Pay leading off, mainly for her mental toughness more than anything. He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze and she mounted with a press handstand, toes perfectly pointed. Emily and Kelly held hands as they watched Payson's routine: they knew each skill and connection as well as they did their own routines. Any sign of tiredness she'd been showing was gone. She attacked the beam, each flight series connected almost instantly, her triple wolf turn had no wobbles. Finally her triple twist dismount with a tiny hop forward completed her routine. Sasha picked her up and spun her round, he was so proud and so relieved she'd competed well. He had been thinking of putting Kelly on beam in her stead but he didn't want to bruise her ego or worry the rest of the team.

Rosa looked at the end of the beam. She shut out everything else. She sprung onto the beam with the same mount as her idol Alicia Sacramone. She grinned throughout her entire routine. It shocked Sasha how similar it was to Lauren's beam routine in team finals at worlds the year before. She dismounted with a double Arabian and the crowd went wild. Rosa grinned as if she couldn't quite believe what she'd done. Kelly wrapped Rosa in a bear hug.

Kaylie looked on nervously. Kelly and Rosa were done but she still had two routines to go. She felt Emily squeeze her shoulder quickly "if I can do it, so can you" she whispered. Kaylie nodded and grinned. Emily's confidence somehow boosted Kaylie's: they'd both had huge obstacles to overcome. She saluted the judges hopped on the beam and competed her triple wolf turn. It didn't have the exact precision of Payson's but Kaylie's had a je ne sais quoi: much like Payson's floor. Kaylie had found her niche on the beam. She was so slight, had good dance and a bubbly personality that made it look easy. She dismounted with a relatively easy double tuck and her teammates screamed. Kaylie Cruz had just gone from anorexia sufferer to one of the best beam workers in the world. She was an inspiration to girls everywhere. Sasha hugged her tightly "I can't express how proud I am of you right now."

Kaylie smiled shyly and hugged him back. She'd always been a tad scared of Sasha but now she realised just how much he cared about each of his gymnasts.

Kaylie, Emily and Payson went to visualise their floor routines while Sasha watched the Russians. Ivanka led off. The Russian had sass, there was no denying it, she had a lower difficulty than each of his gymnasts on beam but not by much and he hardly saw any problems with execution. Her tiny teammate Olga Keranenev was stunning. She was so small and got immense height, she flew on beam. He didn't need to look at the score to tell she would have outscored Rosa and Payson, if not Kaylie. Finally Anastasia Alexandrovna performed the best beam routine he'd seen in his life. Lauren swore under her breath next to him "when did Russia get so good?"

"Beats me, the girls need to kill floor. We've got the best floor workers in the world and I intend for them to show everyone why we have that reputation." Sasha said seriously. Anastasia's score was posted: the young Russian had just posted the first 16 on beam this quad.

Payson could tell that Sasha was nervous. But she couldn't let that show. She had to hold everything together for the team. Emily and Kaylie weren't the calmest competitors in the world. She led her team to the final apparatus and led them in a stretch while Russia warmed up. With a jolt to heart she realised that this could be the last time she competed with Kelly or Kaylie. She'd be with Rosa in the AA and Emily in apparatus finals. No one had really discussed what they wanted to do after 2012. 2012 had always been the big goal. Suddenly she felt close to tears, she dug her fingernail into her thumb's cuticle to drive the tears away. She didn't watch the Russian floor routines and she made sure Kaylie and Emily didn't either.

Suddenly the Russians had finished. She pulled Emily and Kaylie close to her, Kelly and Rosa joined them "Kaylie, Emily: you've both come so far. All that's left is three routines. I want you to go out there and to enjoy them. This is the freaking Olympic team final and we are team USA, we're the Rock Rebels and most importantly we're friends. This could be, and probably will be the last meet as this team so I want you to go out and perform as though your lives depend on it. Do Sasha proud. Do our team proud." She put her hand into the middle of their huddle, Kelly rested hers on top of Pay's then Kaylie, eyes overbright, put her hand in, Emily: focused and determined did the same. Finally Rosa put her tiny hand on Emily's.

"USA on three" Pay said and they did their cheer louder than they ever had. And then it was time for Kaylie's floor.

Ronnie and Alex Cruz watched their daughter from the stands. Ronnie was crying openly and Alex was blinking conspicuously. Kaylie's floor routines before her anorexia were peppy and fun, that was still the case, but now they also told a story: much like Payson's and Emily's. While she danced Kaylie was showing her joy and strength of overcoming anorexia. Her dance was stunning and her tumbling was executed almost perfectly: her double layout was the best in the world. Ronnie gripped Alex's hand tightly. When Kaylie finished her routine Alex kissed Ronnie, like he used to: passionately. Kaylie looked up to the stands and saw her parents: she grinned, she hadn't seen them like that for years. She shook her head, she had to focus on her teammates, she hugged Emily and the taller girl went to stand at the corner of the floor she beamed at the judges.

After her bar routine she realised that she was one of the best gymnasts in the world. She ran into her first tumbling pass aware that she was at the Olympic team final and enjoying every second of it she felt like she did as a child playing on the jungle gym and realising she could swing higher than any of the other kids, or when she first nailed her double twisting double back dismount in the Rock after hours with Damon. All too soon her routine was over and she saluted the judges. When she walked over to Sasha he was beaming. "Emily, that was the best floor routine you have done. Ever." He hugged her tightly. Emily grinned, she didn't know why but after that floor routine, she felt like she could do anything. She waved at the crowd and went to stand by her teammates to cheer Payson on.

Payson walked into the centre of the mat, the Swan Lake music filling the arena. Two days ago she had danced for Sasha. Today she danced for her team. She made eye contact with each of them as she faced them. The audience was captivated, Kim and Mark and Becca were all gripping each others' hands tightly, much like Ronnie and Alex had been. Sasha was crying. He didn't care who saw or what rumours he might spark. Payson fricking Keeler was performing the best floor routine in the world. She worked harder than anyone and had come so far. When she finished her final tumbling pass she ran to Sasha. Sasha picked her up and felt his lips being drawn towards hers: her eyes lit up and she lent up, preparing to kiss him.

"Ahem" Kelly said. She was _so_ going to talk to Pay about this later.

"Shite" Sasha said, realising where he was "later" he whispered in Payson's ear. He gently lowered Payson to the ground and pulled the girls into a huddle. They watched the scoreboard anxiously, their arms linked together, biting their lips. Kaylie would look back on those five minutes as some of the longest in her life. And then finally,

1st United States of America 190.835

2nd Russian Federation 188.500

3rd Romania 179.900

Lauren screeched "we did it!" She hugged Kaylie, tackling her to the floor. Kelly giggled and jumped on top of both of them. Emily, Rosa and Payson looked at each other and rolled their eyes until Lauren and Kelly pulled them on to the ground as well. Soon Sasha ordered them to get up. They were ushered out of the arena so they could get changed into their medal tracksuits. In the changing room they couldn't stop giggling; Payson kept thinking that she needed to pinch herself: she couldn't quite believe what had just happened.

And then they were led out behind the Russian team. Sasha, Darby, Lauren and Rosa's coach looked at their girls, tears in their eyes. The Romanian team were presented with their medals, then the Russians. Finally their names were called, they waved to the crowd then stood up on the podium. Emily thought her knees would give out when the gold medal was placed around her neck. She blinked back tears when she was given her bouquet and then the Star Spangled Banner played. That's when it hit her. Her country's national anthem was playing for _her_, Emily Kmetko, the girl who had grown up with holes in her shoes because her mother couldn't afford new ones, who had been teased for her love of books and for being so gangly, who was a convicted thief and teenage parent. In spite of it all, here she was on top of a podium at the Olympic Games. The tears started in earnest; she had never been so humbled in her life. She blew a kiss to Darby who was crying just as hard as her, she looked to the stands where her loved ones were 'I love you' she mouthed at them, hoping they'd be able to see it on the screen. This was what it felt like, a dream coming true.

XXX

The media loved the gymnastics team, the questions came thick and fast, and for once Kaylie loved answering them. She'd put all doubts well and truly to rest with her performance today. Sasha looked on, pleased with how each of the girls handled the media. They answered all the questions confidently and tactfully. They complimented their competitors, each other and their coaches. Finally they went out to see their families. Rosa ran into her mother's arms. Payson was smothered by her parents and given a huge bear hug by Becca. Damon kissed Emily deeply and then handed her over to Margi and Chloe. Kaylie hugged each of her parents tightly, all three of them were crying and Leo hugged his sister then went to talk to Lauren. Kelly looked on curiously. She didn't know much about Kaylie's older brother except that he was even more attractive than Kaylie, if that were possible. But she'd never heard Lauren mention him. So Kelly was surprised when he hugged her for a long time. Then she saw that someone was behind all of the other families.

"She insisted on coming. It was all I could do to hold her off until after the competition." Sasha said seriously to her.

Kelly realised then that Sheila was here! She took a deep breath. She was ready to try and rebuild that bridge but the sight of her mother sent a jolt down her spine. Sasha put a reassuring hand on her shoulder "say the word and she's gone."

Kelly smiled at Sasha "it's ok but I appreciate your offer" she took a deep breath and walked towards her mother.

**OT so team finals are over! They had to win, of course only the all around and event finals to go. Please let me know what you thought and if you have any suggestions re who should win/ anything else. Thanks for your reviews, you guys rock! And sorry about the cliffhanger.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: My life would suck without you**

Kelly froze. She thought for a second that she'd been seeing things but Sheila was standing there. She was thinner and paler. Kelly noticed with surprise that she wasn't wearing makeup, Sheila always wore makeup. Her mother smiled at her and Kelly waved awkwardly. She took a deep breath and walked over.

"Hi Mum, you look well." It was a sign of how nervous Kelly was that she was using proper grammar. Emily would be proud.

Sheila nodded "I got your text. I'm sorry if this is uncomfortable for you, I wasn't going to approach you but you texted me so I thought I should" Sheila said shyly.

"You came to London? To watch me?" Kelly hadn't actually put that together until now. Her eyes narrowed, there was no way her mother could afford that, but then the realisation that her mother had probably used her money was outweighed by the fact that her mother actually wanted to see her. Then she remembered how she'd slapped her and all the years of piling pressure on her, the nights crying in her room when she didn't win. Her head felt like it would explode with all the conflicting emotions.

"Mum, I need to change." She motioned to her tracksuit and leotard, Kelly wasn't into designer clothes like Kaylie and Lauren but she wasn't one to wear a leo any more than was absolutely necessary.

Sheila nodded "but do you want to get lunch?"

Kelly stared into her mother's eyes. They were pleading and tired. And something else that Kelly hadn't seen in them in a long time, not since the alcohol took over her: love.

Kelly bit the inside of her lip, she wasn't going to cry. "I've got a lot of media to get through. You know better than anyone how important that is." Kelly felt sorry for her mother but she wasn't a saint. She was going to make Sheila work for this. She was exhausted from the first round of media and she wasn't looking forward to this next lot either.

Kelly's jibe stung Sheila, she could tell. She was about to apologise when a staff member ushered her out to the mixed media zone.

The questions came thick and fast but for once Payson enjoyed the attention. The reporters were as excited as the girls, and they had won fairly and without controversy. She smiled as she answered their questions. Emily felt she might cry throughout the whole interview: it was mixture of excitement, disbelief and exhaustion. But she managed to handle herself well enough. Rosa was confident and happy, she'd done her job today and done it well, Kaylie was her usual charming self. Kelly on the other hand was _not _in the mood. She forced herself to smile even though she felt like a colony of butterflies was pounding her stomach. After hundreds of questions, the girls were allowed to leave.

Lauren looked on at the press conference. She started out feeling ecstatic for the girls. They were her closest friends in the world and she had helped them get to where she was today. Kaylie's hug after her floor routine said it all. But then as each team member was praised by the press it hit her hard on what she was missing out on. She realised that they would always have this memory to cherish as a team and that she wouldn't. She bit back tears. She wasn't jealous of her friends she was just tired and she felt the familiar wave of sadness that she'd come to know as depression. It was a constant and sometimes overwhelming companion, always lurking at the back of her mind and then kicking her when she was down.

She took a deep breath and stared straight ahead, forcing herself to smile. Finally the conference ended and they were allowed to leave. She hailed the first taxi she saw. When she arrived to her hotel room she sat on her bed and let the tears come. She looked at her phone. Her counsellor had told her to call someone whenever this happened. She looked through her contacts list. There was only one name she thought could help. She took a deep breath "Summer? It's Lo."

XXX

Kelly showered and changed into jeans and a tee shirt. For all the whining people did about London it was surprisingly warm this summer.

"Have you decided what you're going to do?" Kaylie asked. The brunette was perched on her beside table filing her nails. She was surprisingly exhausted from their performance.

"Not yet" Kelly groaned. "Why are families so fricking complicated? I try to do what's right for her, try to make up with her and she ignores me. So I decided that we were done, and then she shows up out of nowhere? I mean who does that?!"

Kaylie raised an eyebrow "you did text her yesterday." She was bemused by Kelly's behaviour. It was like she was torn between anger at her mother and a desire to make up with her. Kaylie felt sorry for her friend but it was quite amusing to see her flustered for once.

"True. You think I should see her don't you?"

Kaylie nodded. "When Dad left I would have had him do anything to come back willingly, not be dragged back by Sasha. Twice. I'm not saying you should be best friends with her, or even reconcile with her, but she's travelled a long way to see you. I know Lauren would have given everything to see her mum before she passed away and she wasn't exactly a paradigm for mother of the year."

"You're right, as usual. Well I'll go see her then, and leave you alone with your nail polish."

Kaylie poked her tongue out at Kelly. She loved how they were almost like sisters now from living together before nationals and rooming together at every meet since. She admired her nails. They were a pale pink alternating with purple, to match her pinwheel leo for nationals.

Kelly had texted Sheila to meet her in the café in the hotel. She looked around anxiously. She almost smiled as she saw Sheila waving wildly at her. It was the first time in years that she'd seen a genuine smile on that face. Kelly nodded curtly and they went to take a seat.

The silence was excruciating. Kelly ate her salad methodically and Sheila sipped her tea through pursed lips. After a while Sheila put her cup down clumsily "Kel – I'm sorry. It's taken me months to be able to form those words. Rehab's been the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I've learned that I didn't treat you as you deserved. You're my only child and I treated you like a trophy and then as a way to get money for my alcohol." Sheila sounded disgusted at herself.

Kelly sighed. She'd waited years for this apology but now that it came it was an anti-climax. An apology couldn't change what had happened between them. "Thank you for apologising, Mum." Kelly said stillfly. She couldn't think of anything else to say.

"That's all?" Sheila gripped her tea cup tightly trying not to show how annoyed she was.

Kelly thought over her words carefully. She didn't want to offend Sheila but at the same time she wasn't ready for this. "For now Mum. I'm really sorry: I'm still angry but I'm willing to keep trying to make this work. It will just take time though."

Sheila nodded stoically and left, making Kelly wonder why she couldn't be like Kaylie who could forgive her parents again and again. Even Emily was so good with Chloe, although she got frustrated with her sometimes. She sighed at least she'd tried, she supposed. She finished her salad and went to pay the bill.

XXX

Payson and Kaylie were lounging on the balcony outside Payson's room. Kaylie's iPod was sitting in its speakers playing Cat Stevens. Listing to his music and sunbathing was a long time habit for the girls. Payson was glad that Kaylie had suggested this; the two of them seldom saw each other outside of practice or when the team hung out as a group. It was nice to relax, it was Payson's one day off before the all-around final the next day.

"Kales?"

"Mmm?"

"What are you going to do when this is all over?" Payson asked the question that had been nagging at the back of her brain for a while.

Kaylie had been lying on her back but she sat up straight in response to Payson's question. She was shocked that Payson had been thinking about this, she'd always thought her friend so focused. "Um, college I guess, I want to be close to home, you know after we get back from tour." She'd tentatively picked up a few brochures before leaving for London but she had no idea what she wanted to do. Part of her liked the idea of teaching, or physiotherapy but then there was a part of her that didn't want to go near college for a long time. Kaylie was tired, she'd thrown her life into hard work and now that the light of the end of the tunnel was approaching she dreaded the thought of being tied down for four years of more hard work. But then there didn't really seem to be anything else viable. She looked over to her friend usually so calm and collected "what about you Pay?"

Payson sighed "no idea, I only asked because I saw Kelly and Emily devouring college brochures the other day."

"Really?" Kelly hadn't mentioned that to Kaylie, she felt a wee bit hurt that the girl she had come to regard as something close to a sister hadn't discussed something so important with her.

"Uh huh, and not just universities in the States either, they had people from Oxford, Cambridge the LSE, Pierre and Marie Curie University even the University of Copenhagen! Seriously, Copenhagen, come and speak with them, they were literally showered with merchandise and brochures." Payson was going to add that it was like when she won bars at Worlds and had dozens of endorsement opportunities but she didn't want to sound arrogant.

"Wow, that's crazy" Kaylie mumbled. She wasn't even jealous of her friends. She couldn't think of anything worse than studying away from family. Kaylie was fairly sure she'd be staying in Colorado. She knew it must be crazy for them, especially since the Olympics weren't even over yet. "I knew Em did well in her SAT's but I had no idea about Kelly, I thought she just liked reading."

Payson gave her friend a wry smile. Few people knew how bright Kelly was, including, she suspected, Kelly herself. She'd seen her long time competitor devour a book in the time it took Payson to read a chapter, figure out a complex calculus question with 30 lines of working while Payson and other girls her age were still trying to get their heads around Pythagoras' Theorem. "No Kelly's smart, so smart it terrifies me sometimes. Anyway seeing them made me realise I have no freaking clue what I want to do after the Olympics. It's been my dream since I could walk pretty much but now, I don't know." Payson looked exhausted and jaded. Kaylie panicked, the last time she'd seemed like that was right before she collapsed at nationals. Kaylie put an arm around her friend's shoulder and hugged her tightly.

"Promise me you won't think about this until after the games: you've got three more finals ahead of you, you are one of the best gymnasts in the world Pay and you're at the Olympics! Enjoy it while it lasts, afterwards can wait."

Payson grinned "this is true and I'm here with my best friends, college or whatever can wait. We have some serious medals to get this week."

Kaylie smiled, relieved: that was the Payson she was used to.

XXX

"I still don't see why you want me to read it" Emily told Darby "it's private, between you and Jenna." She didn't tell Darby that the real reason she didn't want to read it was that it would bring back that horrible time after she'd put James up for adoption: that feeling of emptiness that she never wanted to feel again.

"Emily, please? I want to make sure it sounds ok." Darby's eyes were overbright. Emily was the one person she trusted more than anyone else; after all they'd been through. She held out the four pieces of handwritten paper. Reluctantly Emily opened them and began to read.

The letter was good. It was at the language a nine year old could read but it wasn't talking down to her. Emily smiled at the picture of Darby doing a handspring at Jenna's age, next to Jenna doing the same. "It's good Darby, really good." Surprisingly she didn't feel sad, she guessed she'd made her peace with letting James go. "It's brave of you to take this step."

Darby walked over and hugged her athlete. "I couldn't have done it without you, you inspired me."

"Me?"

"Yes, you've worked so hard and you've worked so hard to support your friends, family, Damon and James. And you still had time to become an Olympic champion. If you can do all that, the very least I can do is try and patch together a childhood for my kid." Darby folded up the letter and photos into an envelope "now I just have to give it to her."

**A/N transition chapter, your name is 27. We're back to gymnastics next time with the all-around final! Thank you for your reviews – 100 reviews I can't believe it thank you thank you! Let me know what you thought and let me know if you've got any ideas about what you think the girls should do post Olympics. **


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: Crowing a queen**

There was a knock on her door "come in!" Lauren called from her ensuite bathroom. She was focusing on her eyeliner and she couldn't be bothered walking over to the door and opening it.

"Lo? Are you heading over soon? I thought we could head over together." A familiar voice called.

Lauren hurriedly finished her makeup and came out to the lounge "Leo? What are you doing here?" She asked Kaylie's brother.

"I thought you might want to watch the all-around together" Leo said tentatively.

Lauren smiled shyly. Over the past few weeks Leo had seemed different. When he'd joined them in London Lauren realised for the first time that Leo was quite easy on the eyes. She'd also realised how _nice_ he was. For all that he was rich, smart and athletic; he was a genuinely down to earth person. He wasn't just Kaylie's older brother anymore. He was also really funny.

Normally when a boy asked her out (on the rare occasion she'd had time as an elite) she would act cocky and disinterested but she couldn't do that with Leo. Not after he'd been so supportive of her not making the team and being a coach. "I'd like that" she said quietly.

"Good" Leo smiled. "Hey I like that photo" he said, motioning to the picture of Lauren and Summer standing in front of Buckingham Palace "when was it taken?"

"After team finals. I wasn't feeling great so Summer took me out."

"Summer's good like that."

"Yes she is." Lauren smiled at the memory. Summer had managed to turn her from a total mess to being happy in little over an hour.

_The tears came thickly and freely. Lauren knew in the back of her mind that she should be celebrating for her friends but all she could feel was this overwhelming sadness. She turned on her TV as she waited for Summer. Unsurprisingly it was a recap of the team final. Lauren, against her better judgment, didn't change the channel. It showed Kelly's beam routine and Lauren's stomach knotted. That could have been her. Had she made the team, she would have taken that spot in beam finals. And then they showed Kaylie's floor – the crazy mix of Jordin Sparks' 'No Air' and Superchick's 'Not Done Yet.' The mash up that Lauren had made by playing around on her laptop one afternoon after practice. She smiled at the memory of convincing Sasha that it was good for Kaylie and then, to everyone's surprise, it being a hit. Now Lauren couldn't even hear that music without wanting to hide in a corner. _

_There was a knock on her door. "Come in" Lauren said thickly. The door opened slowly to reveal Summer. Dressed in jeans and a white T-Shirt Summer still managed to look immaculate. Lauren looked down at her crumpled track suit surrounded by tissues, she was certain she looked like a trainwreck. _

_The first thing Summer did was switch off the TV "are you trying to torture yourself?" Lauren's blank look terrified Summer. Normally the girl was overly happy, angry or sad but she'd never seen her like this. She sat down and wrapped the girl in a tight hug and Lauren rested her head on Summer's shoulder._

"_I'm sorry, Summer."_

"_What on earth do you have to be sorry for?"_

"_I'm such a brat, I treat you like dirt, my friends like dirt and then you all forgive me. Now when they win I can't even be happy for them. What's wrong with me?" She started sobbing again. Much to her disgust. The old Lauren would not have cried, the old Lauren would have plastered on a fake smile and soldiered on regardless. Granted she would not have been seen dead being an assistant coach but whatever._

_Summer bit her lip. She hadn't realised how sad Lauren actually was, she hid it so well and she was classy on the floor during the final. Very few people would have been able to walk out on live TV after losing their dream and support the girls who took her place. "Listen to me Lauren" Summer whispered "you are not a brat, you are a strong, determined, classy young lady who has been through more in eighteen years than many go through in a lifetime."_

"_No, Summer: I'm not. I just keep thinking of all the bad things I've done and then I think about how even though I was an awful person, I was a good gymnast but then I realise that I'm not even that. I suck and I don't care about anything anymore."_

_Summer gripped Lauren's shoulders and turned the younger woman to face her. "Lauren Tanner, would a horrible person sacrifice her happiness to support her friends, embarrass herself and jeapordise her career so a former teammate would have a chance of making nationals? No she wouldn't. And I think you know you're an amazing gymnast. But why don't we forget about gym for a bit. Come shopping with me? We can tour London a bit too."_

"_I don't really feel like it." Lauren sighed. Leaving the room seemed like too big an obstacle._

"_I don't really care if you feel like it" Summer said "now what do you want to wear?" she opened Lauren's wardrobe and pulled out a navy blue dress and white cardigan._

_Lauren rolled her eyes "you always did have good taste in clothes. I've been wanting to wear that for a while." She let a small smile escape her lips. _

"_Something we have in common" Summer joked quietly "come on, let's get away from this place for a bit." _

Lauren smiled at the memory and motioned Leo out of the door. Together they took a taxi towards the stadium. Lauren grinned when Leo wrapped his hand around hers. Sometimes there were silver linings in the strangest of places.

XXX

"Welcome to the women's all-around Olympic final. You're with Tim, Elfi and Al and today we're crowing a new queen of gymnastics. Elfi, we had a bit of controversy going into this final – can you fill us in on that?"

"Certainly, well the first was that Olga Keranenev is not in today's final. She qualified in fourth position but because her teammates Ivanka or Evanka depending on which spelling you use Yesslinna and Anastasia Alexandrovna finished ahead of her she isn't in the all-around. That is because of the 2 per country rule which has led to a bit of an outcry. But don't worry folks you'll be seeing Olga in the vault, beam and floor finals so she's far from done."

"And what about over in the American camp?"

"Well America has had an interesting quad boys. Normally you can count on the Americans to be reliable and consistent but not the most artistic. Well not this time. We have some really talented girls but they've been up and down. And Payson Keeler and Emily Kmetko have been hailed as two of the most artistic gymnasts of their generation."

"But that's not the drama is it?"

"No Tim, the drama we're alluding to is about American coach Sasha Belov not using Kelly Parker on floor exercise during qualifying and so eliminating her from the all-around. That was strange because Kelly is the national champion and one of the best floor workers in the world. Although, admittedly probably the weakest on the team. She is also consistent. That meant that our all-arounders from the States are Payson Keeler and Rosa Reynolds. Both incredible gymnasts but both have had their ups and downs. Payson with injury and Rosa with nerves. Most people thought it would have been sensible to pull one of them in favour of Kelly to qualify all-around but we'll see if Sasha Belov's decision will pay off."

"Interesting. We're also looking at Genghi Cho and Xhe Chan from China. These two girls round out the top six after Payson, Ivanka, Olga and Rosa. And don't be fooled by their size, these girls are dynamite. So guys who's your pick for Olympic Champion?"

"Ivanka for me. She's been consistently acing routine after routine and she'll be hungry after all around silver last year. She'll be wanting to improve on that."

"Genghi for me. All around 2011 world champion and she has the highest difficulty of the bunch. No, excuse me, I'm looking at the chart in front of me: that's actually Payson Keeler with the highest difficulty. Well well, folks if there's one thing I'm sure of it's that this is going to be a tight race."

"The women are coming out now. Our top group's in the vault rotation, and this is going to be an impressive display for sure. We've got three Amanars, a Rudi and two DTY's: many countries would love to have just one gymnast who could do one of those vaults well."

XXX

Payson was up first. She was nervous. She was seldom nervous before vault: it was over so quickly. She felt someone put a hand on her shoulder. It was little Rosa. "You can do this Pay" the fifteen year old said. "You've been there for us, now you just have to be there for yourself. You deserve this."

Payson beamed. Her teammate must be feeling completely nervous but she was taking the time to encourage her. "Thanks Rosa. You can do this too." She gave her friend a brief hug and then went to the runway. She saluted the judges and let her mind go blank.

The whole crowd went silent during the vault. Sasha was astonished that this was happening. The girl who had fainted just six weeks ago at nationals, who wasn't even going to be doing the Amanar because of that, had just performed the best Amanar he'd ever seen. Her body was completely straight, legs locked together, toes pointed and the landing was stuck cold. Payson smiled at him, but she was in her zone: he wasn't going to disturb that, there was still a long way to go. He gave her a quick hug and then went to change the springboard for Rosa while her personal coach talked to her. Her Rudi was explosive as ever, the amount of height she got off the horse was incredible. The Russians and Chinese were certainly going to be freaking out now. Genghi's Amanar was not her best, but then an Amanar for a girl that short was impressive. Ivanka's was better and Anastasia and Xhe each did very good DTY's. Sasha glanced quickly at the scoreboard: Payson was in the lead with 16.3, Ivanka in second with 16.1, Rosa was close behind with a 15.9. He thought Rosa's score was a little low but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Well I think that Payson Keeler might be making a statement that her first place at qualifying was no fluke like everyone was saying it was." Tim said.

"I think you're right Tim: this young woman has always been known for her mental toughness, even before that horrible injury in 2010. I can say with certainty that no one was expecting a vault like that from her today."

"I think you're right Elfie with one exception, Sasha Belov. He's being saying that Payson is capable of being the AA Champion all year. And even though she didn't win nationals or trials, she's been strong."

"Right now we've got Xhe up on bars. This girl is incredible. Watch her do this skill, a Nabeiva, incredible! Especially for such a short girl. That's going to bring in a huge score…and it does, a 16.0. Not as high as what we expect to see from Cho, Ivanka or Keeler but this kid's still in the race."

"Anastasia is a first year senior but she's been calm all competition which is excellent. She's really better on beam and floor but her bars are good too, but look at this double double dismount. That is about as good as she can do it. Now we've got her older teammate Ivanka, you're in for a treat here! Watch this mount, it's crazy and she's got perfect lines."

"Oh dear"

"That wasn't meant to happen, she overextended one of her handstands but she managed to muscle through it and here's the dismount. She's not going to be happy with that score."

"Wow, that's a lot of booing from the crowd."

"Yes, Anastasia got a 15.95 and Ivanka got a 16.3 even with her mistake. That's not what anyone was expecting. Do you think the coach is going to challenge Anastasia's score?"

"Honestly I don't think so, Ivanka is Russia's best shot at gold in this final and they probably don't want to mess with her head by protesting her teammate's score. That's hard on Anastasia though. But that's show biz, or gymnastics rather. And right now we've got Genghi Cho. This girl is incredible but the pressure of being the reigning all-around world champion is tough and she's been a bit under par this Olympics. As you can see from this routine her handstands aren't quite at the right angle and then there was that step on the dismount. But a 15.8 is still a good score. She's still in this as long as she does her best on beam and floor."

"And now we've got our two Americans. Rosa's up first, she's a power gymnast, albeit a fairly elegant one and as is often the case, her bars aren't as strong as her other three events. She just needs to survive this really."

"And she does, that was a hit routine. You saw Payson there cheering for her the whole time and giving her a big hug at the end. These girls are so close and you can tell Rosa's pleased with that score, a 15.2. Lowest bars score in the top group but she's got floor and beam to come."

"Now we've got Payson. Her story is really incredible. Two years ago she was tipped to be national champion then on her last event, bars she fell and broke her back. No one, and I mean no one, thought that she could come back. That is except herself. She had some very risky surgery and has battled a large growth spurt to get to the Olympic All-Around final. Watch how elegant she is on this event, she was never this elegant before but here she just glides with her long lines. And this is a double twisting double layout dismount, perfect!"

"And that's a 16.4, what she got in qualification. She's going to be happy with that. Keeler is our surprise leader halfway through; she's 0.3 ahead of Ivanka with Genghi in third, Anastasia in fourth and Rosa in fifth."

XXX

"Stretch over here girls." Sasha said to Payson and Rosa. He led them to a corner while the second group finished their beam rotation. He didn't want Rosa seeing the scoreboard under any circumstances. He knew that the halfway standings didn't mean anything but Rosa was in her first major senior international competition and she was capable of medalling. He didn't want her put off.

Rosa did some of her routine on the floor. "You know what?"

"Mmm" Payson said – completely focused.

"I'm having fun"

Payson grinned "good. Because that's what this is all about really, at the end of the day. We started doing this because it was fun."

"Exactly."

And Rosa was definitely having fun as she performed her beam routine: Sasha could tell. The girl's tumbling on the beam was sky high, her landings were perfect. And her score came in as a 16.0. She was only the second gymnast in the entire quad to reach a score of sixteen. Anastasia, who'd gone before her had posted a 16.1 but Rosa's floor was stronger. Sasha smiled, he knew Kaylie and Kelly would be _very_ glad they didn't have to compete with Rosa in beam finals. And what was even better was that he was pretty sure Rosa wasn't done with gymnastics.

He led Payson through her stretches, keeping her focus on her routine and not on anything else. Beam was going to be the apparatus that determined who the Olympic champion was. If she could get through beam, no one could touch her on floor. But her beam had been wobbly in qualification and in training. He heard the crowd sigh, and realised that Xhe must have made a mistake.

"What was that?"

"No one's hurt, stay focused" Sasha told his gymnast calmly. He kept her stretching and going through her routine on the floor while Xhe finished and Gengi went up. Finally it was Pay's turn. "Ready?"

Payson nodded quietly. "Yes"

Sasha hugged her briefly. He didn't need to tell Payson how important this was, she knew. And she acted as though she was in training, as though there was no pressure on her at all. And she was smiling. Sasha nodded, no one could mark Payson's smile harshly. Finally she dismounted with her Patterson, with just a tiny hop on the landing. Rosa ran over and almost tackled Pay to the ground "that was amazing!"

"So were you! You're incredible Rosa, really."

Sasha glanced at the scoreboard. Payson had received a 15.9, the same as Ivanka. Xhe scored a 13.2: she'd fallen off the beam and Genghi had only got a 14.7; she must have had some issues. He felt sorry for the girls, but a part of him was relieved, which made him feel horrible. But it was now a four person race. And he intended that two of those medals would belong to the USA.

XXX

"And now, the final rotation. Things are tense out there. The two women from China had trouble on the beam and unless any of our top four have problems we are going to have an Olympic champion either from Russia or the United States. The only issue is who."

"Yes, we've got the two ladies from China. As you can see, although their dance is exquisite their tumbling is fairly low and not as dynamic as some we'll see later on."

"A 14.5 for Genghi and a 14.6 for Xhe. Not their best, but you know they came out and competed and they kept going after making mistakes. That takes courage."

"Yes it does, and all of our competitors today have a lot to be proud of. To get this far is a huge achievement."

"Now we've got Rosa Reynolds. Earlier in the year she was tipped to be the all-around champion. What do you guys think of that?"

"Well she's got a lot of competition but I think medalling is not out of the picture, she's in fourth at the moment but look at this floor routine. She's got huge power, it's almost like she's flying and the peppy choreography suits her. She's a happy fifteen year old who loves her sport and that's really coming out in her routine, it's a pleasure to watch."

"And huge smiles as she finishes and hugs her coach Nigel and then the national team coach, Sasha. Whether or not she medals, she's won a lot of fans! And the score is…15.4 that's huge! Six tenth higher than qualifying."

"And now we're in for something entirely different. Alexandrovna has been classically trained, look at that balletic style. Her tumbling isn't as high as Rosa's but the girl can dance: exquisite!"

"That gets her a 14.9, her difficulty is a bit lower than Rosa's. So Rosa Reynolds is sitting in first, Anastasia Alexandrovna in second with two gymnasts to go. Rosa's beaming, she's got a medal. The only question is which colour will it be?"

"Her teammate Yesslinna is on now. And as you can see she's got the same balletic style but she's got _sass_! And her tumbling is higher. I must say I like the 'dance of the sugarplum fairy' remix. It suits her personality well."

"Fantastic! The crowd is clapping along. This woman might be our new Olympic champion!"

"A 15.4…that puts her in the lead. But we've still got Keeler, and if you thought Payson's bars were amazing, you haven't seen anything yet!"

"She looks tired though, Payson has been having some difficulty, she had to do watered down routines at nationals this year and drop her second vault. Also, not making the beam finals was somewhat of a surprise but she can do this if she keeps her head together."

"This routine is amazing. She's got Rosa's power and Ivanka's grace. Her turns aren't quite as finessed as usual though and ooh, that was a hop on her landing. We haven't seen her do that in years. But all in all, a fantastic routine."

Payson walked over to Sasha and hugged him. "That was amazing Payson. You're incredible."

Payson shook her head "I could have done better. That was sloppy."

"One step on one landing does not a sloppy routine make you're amazing Pay." He hugged her tightly as they waited for the scores.

XXX

"How are you feeling?" Summer asked Lauren in the stands as they waited for the scores.

Lauren thought about it for a second. "Actually, I'm really happy. All of us dream about being All-Around champions but my bars were never good enough, and Payson deserves this more than anyone. She's come so far and done so much for us."

Leo put his arm around Lauren's shoulder "I want to tell you something" he whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Come closer"

Lauren obliged.

"You're incredible." Leo said before kissing her gently.

XXX

"Oh my gosh!" Payson squealed.

"What? Is the score up yet?" Sasha asked confused.

"No Lauren and Leo!" Rosa explained "they're kissing." And it was caught in the big screen.

Sasha laughed "sometimes I forget that you're both still teenagers." He was glad though, that Lauren was happy. That's all he wanted for all of his athletes, at the end of the day.

He glanced at the scoreboard and a huge cheer erupted in the stadium. "Um Payson, you might want to look at the score now."

Payson turned around and looked at the scoreboard. Her heart leapt to her mouth and tears sprung into her eyes, she couldn't help it. Then she started crying hard, big huge sobs. She buried her head in Sasha's chest.

_All Around Final: Women's Artistic Gymnastics_

_1__st__ Payson Keeler USA 65.000_

_2__nd__ Ivanka Yesslinna 63.600_

_3__rd__ Rosa Reynolds 62.500_

After a couple of seconds she remembered where she was. She hugged Rosa and then she went to find Ivanka and hugged her tightly too. She and the Russian had become almost friends. Almost, well there was a healthy respect anyway. She hugged the rest of the finalists and then she, Rosa, and Ivanka went out to get changed for the medal ceremony. Her stomach was doing somersaults and the air felt like it was buzzing. She couldn't quite believe it. All those years of sacrifice, heartbreak and hard, hard work had paid off. Her dream had come true. There were big decisions to make about the future but they could wait. She was going to soak up the moment. She and Rosa got into their USA tracksuits and walked out again. Chariots of Fire playing in the background. And then the national anthem played for her for a second time and the tears fell again. She found her family in the crowds and mouthed 'I love you' and blew them a kiss. The cameras focused on the Keeler family and their faces showed on the big screen. Mark and Kim were crying and Becca looked like she might. She locked eyes with Sasha. This was his moment as much as it was hers and she would remember it forever.

**A/N so Payson did it! Of course ****, and OLucky that scene with Lo and Summer was for you, I hope you liked it, thanks for your reviews! As always let me know what you thought xx**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: This one's for the torn down, the ones who seek and find**

"So this is nice" Lauren said quietly, holding her burrito. She thought about eating it delicately, but she figured that Leo had known her since she was six and had seen her inebriated, exhausted and after running marathons before training. He was unlikely to be put off by her eating with big bites.

"It is I guess, I would never have guessed Ms Lauren Tanner would condescend to eating burritos, let alone like them."

Lauren threw her serviette at him "there are a lot of things you don't know about me. Besides sometimes when all you have is luxury it's nice to have normal food."

"I hear that." Leo said quietly. "And what is this about me not knowing much about you?"

Lauren raised one eyebrow "what's my favourite band?"

"Muse, although you would never admit it because you don't want to be seen as a hipster."

"Meh that was an easy one. What about my favourite book?"

"The Secret Garden, you liked it because your mum used to read it to you when you were young. Your first memory is of your mum taking you to gym class as a toddler, you've spend your entire life in gymnastics and yet you're afraid of heights, your favourite colour is green, you get hay fever, you love horses, you worry about your dad's health because he works too hard, and you had a crush on Viggo Mortensen when The Return of the King came out."

"You knew all that about…me?" Lauren had spent years being overshadowed by her friends and half ignored by her father. The revelation that someone cared that much about _her_ was amazing.

"Well I do have a photographic memory."

"I-I don't know whether to kiss you or call the cops because I've got a stalker."

Leo gave a wry smile "well it's that indecision that cost you Viggo – you need to commit, one way or another."

"Shut up" Lauren said and kissed her new boyfriend. If someone had told her a year ago that she didn't make the Olympic team and had been happier than she'd ever been in her life she would have called them crazy, but, she mused as Leo hugged her tightly, some things were more important than gymnastics.

"One question, when did you start liking me?"

Leo paused "A while ago I started to see flashes of the kind girl behind all of the drama. I saw her stick up for her friends, convince Sasha to let Kaylie train again, sacrifice her reputation and risk her friendships to help Emily towards her goal."

Lauren shook her head. "But why me? I'm screwed up, petty, insecure and _very_ high maintenance."

"Well I like a challenge."

Lauren raised an eyebrow and then started to tickle Leo mercilessly.

"Master, I give!"

Lauren reluctantly stopped tickling. "Want the rest of my milkshake?"

"I always knew you were a keeper."

XXX

"Ready?" Kelly asked Kaylie.

"No" Kaylie shook her head. "I can't believe I'm at the vault final at the freaking Olympics. A year ago Sasha only had me doing yurchenko 1 and 1/2s and now I'm supposed to do a freaking Amanar. What was I thinking? I should pull out."

"Kaylie, fucking listen to me! You are going to go out there and you are going to do the two best vaults of your career. You are going to show every loser who has ever doubted or mocked you exactly who you are, understand?"

Kaylie nodded

"And most of all you're going to prove this to yourself."

Kaylie nodded, more determined this time. She realised, now that no matter how hard you tried to please people, there would always be those who wanted to bring you down. Well they weren't going to, not today. She saluted the judges and ran.

"Wow! I don't think I've ever seen Kaylie do so well." Elfie said, surprised.

"No this kid – like all the American gymnasts here has proven that she's got mental toughness in spades. She is going to be formidable in whatever she does."

"That's for sure, and now her Amanar – and yes just a small step to the side but for someone who had to downgrade to a Yurchenko 1 and ½ less than a year ago – that is huge! Ladies and gentlemen, Kaylie Cruz is back."

Kaylie ran into Lauren's arms. They had decided to say Lauren was Kaylie's personal coach while Sasha was Kelly's. It meant that both coaches could be on the floor. They sat and watched Gengi, Ivanka, Olga, and the two Romanian girls: Ema and Aurelia all perform their vaults. It was an interesting Olympics in that most of the top all arounders had two vaults. Kaylie purposefully didn't watch the scores. She didn't normally until everyone had finished, but Lauren was watching them eagerly. Ivanka, of course, was in first her Amanar was one of the best in the world and she was the only girl with a Prudonova – although it hadn't been executed all that well. She'd stumbled forward and looked like she'd over extended her knee. Not that she'd ever show pain. Lauren loved how feisty the Russian girl was. And surprisingly Kaylie was in second. That would change though, there was Catherine Tombleson from the UK and Kelly to go, they were both amazing. Catherine saluted the judges and did a flawless Cheng. Lauren whistled – the girl was from a country traditionally weak on vault but she had somehow managed to vault like that when there would be little competition to motivate her. Then she ran for her Amanar, her left hand was slightly misplaced Lauren saw. She swore under her breath – there was no way she was going to get two and a half twists around. She ran up to the table, she needed to stop her getting injured somehow. She barely noticed Sasha, the British coach and the Russian coaches running up as well. The last time a girl had been that wonky off the horse she's broken her back.

It was as if she moved in slow motion, spiralling downwards towards the matt. Sasha gripped Lauren's hand. There was nothing he could do. But then he notice the girl somehow slow down her twisting – it would have been incredibly difficult to work against the momentum, but somehow she did it – and she landed on her feet, just doing two twists instead of two and a half. Sure it was 0.7 lower in difficulty but it beat having a broken back. Most of the audience had no idea how close she'd come to hurting herself but the coaches and the athletes were screaming and hugging Catherine – even Ivanka. Then they realised that Kelly still had to go and they went back to the sideline.

Kelly saluted and did her two vaults flawlessly. She was a champion and was probably one of the few people who could have seen the scene earlier and shut it out. Sasha wrapped her in a bear hug as soon as she'd finished. The crowd was going crazy. Those who knew gymnastics well expected Kelly in the all-around and so were pleased with her performance. She and Kaylie linked arms waiting for her score. There was a pause and one of the judges stood up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have decided to alter the rules somewhat regarding the tie break procedure. Tonight there were two athletes who had the same score. Normally the highest execution score would determine the winner. However these were equal also – from every single judge – so we have decided to award four medals for this competition. Ladies and gentlemen, please see the scoreboard."

_GOLD Kelly Parker USA 16.200_

_SILVER IvankaYesslinna RUS 16.198_

_BRONZE Catherine Tombleson15.800_

_BRONZE Kaylie Cruz 15.800_

Kelly couldn't believe what she was seeing. She'd been a good vaulter her whole career. Good, not great. Lauren, Payson, even Kaylie had all been better than her at some time in their careers. She bit her lip. "Sasha – I can't believe it. Me? Really?"

Sasha hugged Kelly. An individual Olympic champion, at last. "You. Kelly Parker your class, determination and support of your teammates has made me so proud. You have worked hard every day and been outdone and overshadowed time and time again but this? You've earned."

Kelly went and hugged Ivanka. She could tell the Russian girl was pissed 0.002 was the smallest of margins, but she shook Kelly's hand gracefully. "Well done – I will see you in beam finals." Ivanka said, leave no doubt as to the fact she intended to come out even stronger.

"Yes you will. I am trying not to be terrified" Kelly said, and Ivanka winked at her.

Catherine hugged Kelly. Kelly would have felt guilty about winning over the auburn haired girl but she was just relieved that she was ok. "That was the best save I've ever seen, but please don't do that again."

Catherine smiled "I promise, well done Kelly. I know this is weird since we've never met but I've always admired your tenacity. It's what's kept me going this quad, seeing you having to pick yourself up again and again. No matter what else was going in the USA, whatever new star was being born – you were always there."

Kelly almost teared up "thanks Catherine, I never knew I had fans, I always thought I was so boring."

Catherine snorted "Kelly, you are many things, but boring is not one of them."

And then there was Kaylie. The two teammates hugged each other in silence for a while. "So proud of you Kales."

Kaylie grinned "well we couldn't let Rosa and Payson out do us." She said looking to the stands where Payson, Rosa and Emily were screaming their support, they waved enthusiastically back.

XXX

"Have you given it to her?" Emily asked Darby. They were sitting in Darby's living room. It was the night before bars finals and Emily needed to be near Darby, she was the only one who could keep Emily's nerves in check, a monumental task. Emily was calmer than she had been when she first came to the Rock but compared to most other elites she was a total newcomer.

"After floor finals, you come first for now."

Emily nodded. She loved hearing that "and once this is over, any help you need with Jenna, I'll give."

"That means a lot, coming from you, Emily." The two of them sat for a while before Emily went back to her hotel room.

Payson shook Emily awake the next morning. It was with a pang that she realised that today and the day after would be the last two times she'd be competing with Emily. She hadn't seen Emily much since team finals. She had copious media functions to attend. Sasha had warned her that her life would be different now – but she hadn't realised how much. She kept getting stopped around the village and she'd changed her phone number so that the press couldn't get hold of her. If she didn't have Sasha and MJ controlling access to her she didn't know how she would cope. She felt a pang of regret for what it was like before but she shut it out. She looked at her two gold medals, both in boxes on her dresser. They were worth more than the inconvenience of any press. Tears still came to her eyes whenever she remembered the all-around final. "Come on Em, time to get up."

"I hate you." Emily said automatically. It was what she told anyone who tried to wake her. Once she'd thrown her pillow at Payson and then yelled at Payson for taking her pillow.

"Love you too, come on bars – move."

Emily groaned "you should join the freaking army."

Payson froze, she really did _not_ want to think about life after this week. More than anyone she'd ever met, except perhaps Kelly, she had focused on gymnastics and gymnastics only. Only during her brief period at Taft High School did she ever even consider that there were things beyond gymnastics. Even then it had only been when gymnastics was no longer a possibility that she reluctantly joined other clubs. She bit back tears, the Olympics weren't over _yet_. She still had medals to win and teammates to encourage.

"Maybe I will – get up sergeant."

Emily reluctantly rolled out of bed and went to have a shower. Payson went to her desk. It was next to Emily's – Emily's desk was covered with pamphlets from prestigious universities from around the world. She knew Emily wanted to do medicine or psychology, and she was smart. She could do whatever she wanted. Payson wasn't dumb, and she was diligent and stubborn enough that she could probably get into any course she wanted to – but it wasn't the same, she wouldn't have that effortless talent that she did with gymnastics. Nor did she have that huge drive to learn. She sighed.

"Right" Emily said, more awake from her shower "let's do this."

"Finally you're awake", Payson said more tetchily than she normally would, she grimaced. What was wrong with her?

Emily, ever patient smiled at her friend "sorry, come on – we decided on the dark purple leos with the blue sleeves and neckline didn't we?" Like many of the teams, the US girls had decided to wear matching leos for the individual event finals to show solidarity. And slightly to intimidate the other gymnasts, remind them that there were two of them.

Payson finally smiled "yes" they were going to wear Payson's favourite colour – purple for bars, and red – Emily's signature colour for floor.

There was some very enthusiastic knocking on their door. "What!?" Payson yelled.

Kelly marched in, closely followed by Rosa and Kaylie.

"We thought you'd need some help with hair and makeup."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Fine!"

XXX

Ivanka was up first on bars. The girl was amazing. She was the only gymnast in a very long time to make all five individual finals. And so far she had three medals. But Payson knew she wasn't happy. None of them were gold. She was going to want to set this straight. Payson almost felt sorry for her. She knew all of the other girls didn't take Emily seriously, they thought she was just a fluke. To them she was just a girl who had managed to show up and luckily make the Olympic team and stay on bars and not fall on floor. They didn't see how focused and motivated Emily was every single day. She clapped as Ivanka did her double double dismount, she took a step forward but it was a great routine. Payson smiled at her as she went to chalk up, Ivanka looked at her suspiciously, Payson winked. She knew that her confidence was terrifying to Ivanka – not that she'd ever show it.

Payson's two gold medals had given her large amounts of confidence, and now she was just going to enjoy the event finals. She smiled warmly at the judges and Sasha grinned at Payson. It was so nice to see her genuinely happy. The crowd screamed when Payson saluted the judges. The all-around champion always got special treatment from the crowd during the event finals – with good reason. Sasha balled his hands into fists. He never ceased to be nervous when she was on bars. He felt riddled with guilt every time he thought of 2009 nationals. Although, had Payson competed with her back as a power gymnast she never would have made it to this level. He watched in awe at her perfect lines – they were never that straight before, and her swing was better than anyone's, except Emily. And then, too quickly her routine was over. The same dismount as Ivanka's, but stuck cold. Sasha was a perfectionist and expected the same from his athletes. Payson ran over to hug Sasha. To his surprise she was crying, and the tears were not happy tears.

"Pay?"

"It's nothing."

"You're a terrible liar."

Payson glared at him and then "it's just that this was probably my last bar routine in competition ever."

Sasha hugged her tightly. "You're not going to like this, Pay but you can cry later. You've got a teammate to support."

"You're right, sorry I don't know what's gotten into me lately."

"It's normal, you've put so much into this but it's not over yet."

"No, you're right, it isn't." Payson pushed her emotions to the side and focused on the rest of the competition.

Darby gripped Emily's shoulders tightly as they watched Genghi Cho perform her routine. The girl seemed to float on her strongest apparatus. She sometimes struggled with her transition between the low bar and the high bar, but today she was on fire. Emily was certain that the reigning world all-around champion was furious that she'd missed out on the individual medals so far. Her double front half dismount was landed perfectly. It was not lost on Emily that it was the same dismount used by the 2008 Olympic All-Around Champion, she was sure that was Gengi's reason for choosing it.

Anastasia, the other Russian girl was next. She had the grace of Ivanka, but her difficulty was a couple of tenths lower than the rest of the field. Her routine was beautiful though. In the past Emily would have felt intimidated by the fact she was competing with such talented competition, but her teammates had taught her to keep her nerves in check and believe in herself. She watched, feigning calm, as one of Gengi's teammates performed an immaculate routine, she clapped absentmindedly.

Darby gripped Emily's shoulders tightly. "Ok go warm up." Emily was last in the line-up and Darby didn't want her to freak herself out watching the competition right up till just before her routine. Daria Dorsuc from Greece performed a good routine. Good, but not great. The third best bar workers from each of China, Russia and the States would have performed better. But the two gymnasts per country for each individual final was a fact of life. Darby still couldn't help feel sorry for Kelly, and even Rosa. Both girls would have easily outscored Daria.

Sasha looked at the scoreboard. It was as he expected. Payson was in first place, she was going to get a medal with two competitors to go: it was just a matter of which colour. Gengi was in second. He almost felt sorry for the little girl, then he remembered her coach's attitude when they came to the Rock and decided he didn't feel _that_ sorry for her. He watched Amelia Smythe from the UK mount the high bar. He grinned at the crowd's cheer for their home gymnast. Amelia was only fifteen, she wouldn't medal but she was a delight to watch, especially because she was just genuinely happy to be at the Olympics. Sasha found himself letting out a cheer as the girl dismounted. Well he was half English, after all.

Then it was Emily's turn. Emily looked at Sasha, Payson, and Darby. Each of them hugged her tightly, but Emily hardly saw them. She went to chalk up, the world seemed like it was moving in slow motion, and she felt like she was going to throw up. She vaguely noticed Sasha put down the springboard for her. She jumped up to the high bar, and then the passion that she'd always had for gymnastics, especially on bars kicked in. She was a little girl flying on the monkey bars – finding an escape from Chloe's abusive boyfriends and the bullies at school. Then she was crying as Chloe told her the man who'd seen her at the Y was Marty Walsh, and he wanted her to come to the Rock. Then she was kissing Damon for the first time, then she was making the national team. The memories flew thick and fast, she came second on bars at the meet against China, and Payson coming back to gymnastics, her acing her SAT's, chilling after a tough pool training with Darby, giving birth to James, seeing Damon live in concert. Then she was being hugged by Sasha after making the national team, crying into Darby's tracksuit when the Olympic team was announced, winning team gold.

And then her feet found the floor, from a distance her mind registered surprise that she didn't hop forward like she normally did. Her hands immediately flew into her finishing salute, then she turned and saluted the judges again. And then it was though the world had been switched onto mute before and the volume was being turned back on. The arena was filled with cheers. Automatically she found Damon in the crowd. He was in the very front row – screaming. Chloe, Summer, Brian, Lauren, Leo, Kaylie, Kelly, Rosa, Margi, Larissa, and Jenna were all yelling and crying. Feeling numb she went to find her coach.

"How did I do?" Emily asked Darby.

Darby was speechless for a while, Emily could see that she had been crying. "Em – I just want to tell you that I have never been prouder of you and that was…fucking amazing." She wrapped Emily into a bear hug "I honestly don't know what you did to mentally prepare yourself, but it worked."

Payson hugged Emily "I knew you could do it, ever since Damon sent me that video on his phone. No one has as much natural talent as you do Em, no one."

Emily raised an eyebrow "that's an interesting statement coming from the all-around Olympic champion."

Payson shook her head "no, I've got here through stubbornness, luck and talent. You've worked hard too but Em, that routine had the best execution I've ever seen."

Emily hugged Payson tightly. "I wouldn't have been here if not for you."

A second cheer erupted from the stands. "What?" Emily asked Sasha, confused.

"Look at the scoreboard Em" he said gently. He was almost in tears himself. Of all the gymnasts he'd coached Emily had to be one of the most difficult. Never had he had a gymnast with so much natural ability yet so little confidence and discipline. The fact that the universe seemed to have it in for her didn't help either. Finally though, she had done it.

_WOMEN'S UNEVEN BARS FINALS_

_GOLD Emily Kmetko USA 16.900_

_SILVER Payson Keeler USA 16.233_

_BRONZE Gengi Cho CHN 16.133_

Emily's brow creased in confusion. Her score wasn't possible, her difficulty was 6.9. Then it clicked "I got a 10 for execution?! But how is that even possible? That hasn't happened since…"

"Nadia Comenici" Sasha whispered softly. "1976 Olympics…on the uneven bars. She looked a bit like you too, Em."

Emily shook her head "this can't be right. But I'm not special, I didn't even think I would medal."

Sasha put an arm around her "when you see the replay, you'll realise why. Now I think there are some people here who want to congratulate you." He said nodding towards Ivanka and Gengi.

**A/N **so sorry it took so long to update – exams were doing my head in. I hope you liked the chapter, I know it's unrealistic to get a 10 in execution on anything, much less the uneven bars but Emily has worked so hard! And she's my favourite character haha. Anyway please let me know what you thought, and if you want anything else put in before the end of the story. Also what do you think of the Leo/ Lauren pairing?


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30 the fifteen mile block**

Sasha would have torn his hair out watching his Olympic team in their last training before the final day of competition which included beam and floor finals, but he knew how they were feeling. He could remember wanting to die towards the end of the Olympics, the adrenaline had worn off and their bodies and minds were exhausted. However it was not his job as a coach to be sympathetic, not when there were medals to be won.

"I want that dismount again, Kaylie." Sasha said sternly, his heart tugged as the girl seemed to have to drag herself back up to the beam. She took a deep breath and did her two and a half twisting dismount.

"Better" Sasha said, more gently. Kaylie was capable of winning beam, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He knew it would just make her feel like she had to do it to please him. He gave her the perfunctory hug "go warm down – go relax in your room. I'll see you in the morning."

He moved over to Kelly, the other beam finalist. She looked drained as well, but she was hiding it better than the other girls. He nodded for her to do her routine and she did. He could tell she was tired, her connections were a bit slower, but only a fraction. No one else apart from him would be able to tell, probably. He let her go too. His respect for Kelly had grown exponentially over this competition. He'd always admired her gymnastics and her mental toughness but now he saw the strong character underneath too.

His floor workers were giving him the most grief. Emily kept sitting her tumbling passes and she was often slightly out of time with her music. That was more worrying, Emily was naturally artistic. Her exhaustion must be huge for her natural grace to be lacking. He made her do five floor routines but each one was worse than the one before it. Reluctantly he let her go. Then it was Payson's turn. He watched, concerned as she went to the centre of the floor, her shoulders were slightly stooped and her strides were shorter. He played her music and she danced, but it was reluctant, her tumbling was accurate but there was no flourish, no expression. He sighed and stopped the music. Of all the routines, of all the finals each of his gymnasts were in, he wanted Payson to do well on floor. It was the routine that brought her back to the elite scene, she had always shone on floor, even before she'd broken her back, but she had the potential to be one of the best floor workers in history.

"Payson" he whispered.

The blonde girl looked at him, her grey eyes incredibly sad. "I can't do this, Sasha. I can't. bring. Myself. To. Do. Gymnastics." Every word she spoke seemed like it took her incredible strain. "Just thinking about it, my body and mind are screaming at me to stop. I know it's stupid, it's just one more freaking routine but I'm tired." Two perfect tears fell down her cheeks.

Sasha walked over to the middle of the floor where Payson was sitting. Silently he put his arms around her. Payson's body had felt numb before, but when Sasha touched her she felt like she was on fire. "What can I do?" Sasha asked earnestly.

"Remember the locker room?"

"Yes, of course." Sasha felt a jolt down his spine. How on earth did he end up falling in love with his _athlete_, he really was the bad boy of gymnastics after all he sighed to himself. Marty was going to skin him alive, and Mark Keeler was going to _murder_ him. "I will never, ever forget that Payson, not for as long as I'm alive, regardless of what you decide to do, or who you decide to be with."

Payson had always been shy with boys. Except with Sasha, although he was hardly a boy. She gripped his hand and put it around her waist. "Kiss me" she whispered.

"Payson" Sasha's heart was throbbing a million miles an hour. "Are you sure?" He looked around, but there was no one in the arena apart from the two of them.

Payson nodded and Sasha gently cupped his hands under her chin and kissed her softly. Suddenly he felt like he was on fire and his heart thought it might explode when Payson deepened the kiss. Then much too soon he realised that he couldn't do this now, he would never be able to control himself. He slowly pulled himself away, Payson looked at him, her huge eyes confused "did I do something wrong?"

"No, love, you could never do anything wrong. But I am your coach first and your, well, everything else, second. I want you to go out there and smash your floor routine tomorrow, clear?"

Payson nodded slowly. "I'm exhausted, Sasha. I'm bone tired, but for you, the world. I will go out there and do the floor routine of my life. All I need is you." She pecked him on the cheek and left the gym. Sasha was still slightly shell shocked, but he did find it slightly ironic that Payson Keeler, of all people, was a romantic. Not that he could talk. He started to pack up, whistling as he went.

XXX

Emily's head was killing her, she was near tears. Part of her knew she was being stupid. There was just one more routine that she had to do and this would all be over, but her body and mind were exhausted. She had had to work twice as hard as her teammates to get back into shape for the Olympics – a crazy amount. Darby had warned her that her body might not make it through the training, but she'd never thought about the mental aspect. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in" she said quietly.

Damon popped his head around the door.

Emily grinned "Damon?" Darby was not the strictest coach but even she had all but banned Damon during the 12 hours before each competition. "What are you doing here?"

"Darby all but ordered me here. She said you'd need some cheering up."

Emily smiled. Damon was the most encouraging person she'd ever met. And he wasn't a gymnast, and frankly anything that wasn't gymnastics related was welcome at this point.

Damon came in, and he was carrying James. Emily almost squealed with happiness. Damon gently placed their son on the ground and he toddled to Emily. Emily picked him up and hugged him tightly, taking in his talcum powder baby smell. Damon sat beside her and put his arm around her. Emily tucked her head under his chin.

"Cry it out."

"Huh"

"I can tell you're exhausted mustang, let the tears come. Trust me it's the only way you'll be able to perform tomorrow."

Emily bit her lip "I don't want to think about tomorrow." But she did as Damon said, and one by one, the tears fell.

"Sad?" James asked. His huge brown eyes were just like Damon's when he was concerned. Emily kissed him on the head.

"Just tired sweet pea, but I'm happy you're here."

James kissed her check "me too"

Emily and Damon shared a look – their son, was spectacular.

Damon waited patiently for Emily to fall asleep. He'd been this exhausted near the end of tours, when his fingers were calloused from too much time on the frets and his voice crackly from signing, but most of all his body and mind numb from doing the same thing over and over. He couldn't imagine how much harder it was for Emily. He wiped her eyes with tissues he'd brought and gently put her in bed. Then he kissed her forehead and picked up James. Feeling for a second the pang that came whenever he realised they could have been living in the house in LA a normal family. He shook it off quickly. That life would have involved no gymnastics, no double gold medals and countless college applications for Emily, and it would mean that Summer and James would not have the relationship they had. He loved seeing Summer with James, Summer was a born parent. She was altruistic with strong morals and a big heart.

XXX

Payson hadn't gone back to the hotel room straight away. She needed to process. Her head was swimming. Her exhaustion was gone, instead she felt well _alive_, in a way that she hadn't before. And she had to tell someone. She had no idea who though. She couldn't talk to Kaylie, Kelly or Emily and she didn't want to talk to Rosa. Then she realised, there was one person who would listen.

"Lo."

"Pay? What's wrong?" Lauren was confused. The likelihood of Payson focusing on anything other gymnastics the night before a competition was about as likely as Lauren buying something from Target.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Of course, meet you in the lobby?"

Payson quickly went to get a jersey. She couldn't believe she was breaking curfew at the Olympics to talk about a guy. Much less her coach. Her sixteen year old self would be very disappointed she mused quietly. She waited patiently in the lobby, grinning. After a while Lauren emerged from a taxi, she sprinted over to her friend. "What is it?" She gave a Payson a huge long hug.

Payson couldn't help it, she giggled.

"Payson? What the fuck, you were a mess at practice! And now you're laughing?" Lauren was genuinely confused.

"Sorry…sorry it's just – can we go somewhere private? Something amazing's happened."

Lauren laughed, it was good to see her friend smiling. The past two days Payson had been holding everything together, barely. "I know a place we can go. Come on" she pulled Payson towards the taxi.

XXX

Kaylie rubbed her eye make up off. She groaned, she was getting wrinkles. The past eighteen months had taken its toll. She brushed her hair out. She was scared about what would happen after tomorrow. She knew that they would return heroes and that there would be the tour of champions, which sounded exhausting, but at least she could pretend for a while that this phase of her life was not yet over. Kaylie had grown up with money, had parents who had each had their share of fame, and she knew the fallacies of both. All she wanted was a quiet life, to be comfortable, and to be surrounded by her friends and family. But she'd heard Emily and Damon having intense discussions about where they would go, whether they would stay in the UK, go to Europe, Australia, Canada, or the States. Kelly had a similar decision to make, and she knew that Lauren would probably not stay in Boulder, at least not long term. There were too many memories there for her.

"Coming down for dinner?" Kelly popped her head through the bathroom door.

"No thanks, I already ate."

"When?"

"Before with Dad, he took me out while you were having a shower and catching up with Rosa." Kaylie lied.

Kaylie glared at her "really? What did you have?"

"Garden salad and seared chicken, you can even ask him if you want. Honestly Kelly – I'm great, have a good time at dinner though. Say hi to the others."

Kelly was quiet, she didn't want to seem like she didn't trust Kaylie, but then she was worried. She always made sure she went to meals with her. "Ok Kaylie, I trust you. See you in a bit."

XXX

Lauren was stunned into silence. Payson and Sasha. The day before floor finals at the freaking Olympics. "Wow"

"I know, I can hardly believe it's happened, finally, you're awful quiet." Payson said, noticing how Lauren wasn't saying much.

"I guess it's a lot to digest."

"But we love each other."

"I know that but-"

"Wait, what do you mean 'you know that'?"

"Payson, everyone can see the way you and Sasha look at each other at the gym, and as weird as it is with him being ancient and all the two of you are made for each other. I just hope you're ready. I mean you've got three Olympic medals, you can do whatever you want. Are you sure you want this now?"

"I've never been more sure of anything." Payson said softly "and please don't talk about post-Olympics, I don't want to think about it."

"Fair enough, it's kind of scary isn't it?"

"More than kind of scary, it's terrifying."

Lauren gripped her friend's hand. "it will be fine – I just don't want you to rush into this because you're scared about life after gymnastics." Lauren knew that Payson wouldn't return to gymnastics again, her body had been pushed too far.

Payson smiled "of course not" she said, although she realised that Lauren had a point. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you know what you're going to do after this?"

Lauren took a deep breath "well I'm tossing up between varsity, volunteering, having a working holiday, or going back to training."

"Training?"

"You think it's stupid."

"No!" Payson didn't like how low Lauren's self esteem had been the past couple of months "I think it's a good idea! Only if you want to though."

"Really?"

"Of course – you're the best vaulter in the world, and your beam and floor aren't far behind."

Lauren smiled "that means a lot, coming from you. What about you, Pay?"

Payson shook her head "I don't even want to think about it. I want to be near Sasha, I know my body can't handle another competitive cycle but I'm too tired to think about studying. I'm a mess."

"You are many things, Payson Keeler, but a mess is not one of them."

Payson raised one eyebrow "I'm a nineteen year old with a broken back, who is currently breaking curfew after kissing her coach and has no immediate plans to go to college or get a job."

"Well when you put it like that…"

Payson laughed and tickled her friend mercilessly.

**A/N so it finally happened with Pay and Sasha. And we're nearly finished with the Olympics, and I've got two more chapters and an epilogue to tie up loose ends. Please let me know what you thought xx**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: The end of the beginning**

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final day of competition at the 2012 London Olympics for artistic gymnastics. It certainly has been an incredible time – especially on the women's side." Tim Dagett said, he had been commentating gymnastics for years but he had never been so impressed with a team as he had been with the Americans.

"Yes it has Tim. Sasha Belov, a four time Olympic champion has coached two girls to perfect tens. That is, frankly, incredible. There has not been a single perfect ten since the new open ended scoring system was introduced. Payson Keeler gave us a perfect floor performance early on and her teammate Emily Kmetko two days ago became the uneven bars champion with a perfect routine. She is being compared to Nadia Comenici – it really is an incredible team."

"Their teammates Kaylie Cruz and Kelly Parker are competing in the beam finals today. What are their chances do you think, boys?"

"Kaylie Cruz has the potential to be an Olympic champion on this event. She's had a rough ride – she's been dealing with anorexia and she has always been flighty. But it's that personality that also makes her such a delight to watch, unlike many gymnasts, she doesn't shut out her world around her. Rather she lets her emotions show, she can play to the crowd like no one else."

"Kelly, who is one of Kaylie's best friends, is the complete opposite. This kid is steady and has nerves of steel – she can hit when it counts. If you were to tell me that she would be the vault champion I would have told you you were crazy. And no one was expecting her to make beam finals either. Rosa Reynolds and Payson Keeler both usually outscore her – but she hit on game day, which is what needs to be done."

"But I think our Russian girls Olga and Ivanka are going to be formidable here, as well as Gengi Cho – remember this kid doesn't have an individual medal yet, and she's the reigning all around world champion. I wouldn't be wanting to be competing against her, she's going to be hungry for a medal."

Kelly saluted the judges. She had not been expecting to make this final, so she was just going to do her best and enjoy herself. She mounted the beam and steadily went through her routine then dismounted. An overwhelming feeling of relief coupled with exhaustion hit her. Her Olympics were done! She ran over to hug Lauren and Sasha. She knew she wouldn't medal unless some of the others mucked up but she was pleased. She watched Olga, one of the Russian girls simply attack the beam. She was rocking her routine and taking no prisoners. She finished her routine with a stuck Patterson dismount. Kelly whistled, she couldn't help herself: the tiny Russian had sass. She easily outscored Kelly.

Gengi was next, and the look in her eyes frankly terrified Kelly. The reigning world all-around champion mounted the beam with absolute grace. Her routine was almost perfect, and there was a certain depth in her that she'd not seen before. The realisation that not everything would always go her way had strengthened the former it girl. Before there was just gymnastics, but now there was a story behind the gymnastics – a story of picking oneself up and keeping going. Kelly knew it well, as did her teammates, now Gengi was learning it too. Gengi finished her routine with a triple twisting dismount, hers was the best in the world. Kelly whistled when the score was posted: a 16.2, she really hoped Kaylie wasn't looking at the scores because that was huge.

Ivanka and the two girls from Romania were next, then the other girl from China. Finally it was Kaylie's turn. Kelly and Lauren held hands. The anticipation surging through them, their combined hope for their friend who had been through so much. Kaylie smiled at the judges and did her press handstand mount. Her lines, as always, were perfect. Her aerial combinations were connected almost instantly. Finally she dismounted, but something was wrong. It was shaky, and she stumbled forward. And she took a couple of seconds before she got to her feet. Kelly rushed forward and pulled her up, Kaylie gripped her friend's hand tightly and she managed to salute the judges. Sasha, Lauren and Kelly sheltered Kaylie as the cameras tried to close in. Lauren noticed the shivering – an indication of the anorexia, she took off her jacket and put it over Kaylie's shoulders. Kaylie silently wiped two tears from her eyes. Then she smiled at the three people around her.

"I can be okay for now" she, Lauren, and Kelly linked arms and waited for her score. It eventually came up. Kaylie had come fifth. Gengi took the gold, Olga the silver and Cho the bronze. Kaylie let out a barely audible sigh but then went to hug each of the medallists, Kelly close behind her. "Poker face, Cruz" Kelly whispered in Kaylie's ear, Kaylie nodded and smiled. It wasn't the best way to end an Olympics, but Kaylie was relieved that it was over. None of the Olympians had got there easily, but Kaylie had a rockier ride than most.

XXX

"Please welcome our floor exercise finalists" said the announcer in a booming voice. Payson and Emily walked out, followed by the six others. Emily was shaking, she could hardly stand she was so exhausted. After what seemed like an age the applause stopped and she followed Payson over to their corner. Emily felt dizzy.

"What's wrong?" Payson asked softly.

Emily slowly wiped two tears from her eyes. "I don't know – I'm so tired I can't even see straight."

Payson hugged her friend tightly. "You can do this."

"No – I can't, I can't even see you properly let alone remember my routine."

"Think of James, think of Damon, think of Sasha, think of Darby. Think of Kelly – she'll be pissed if you don't do a good routine when she could have easily medalled on floor."

Emily laughed quietly "this is true. Can you stand by the corner while I do my routine?"

"Of course – and Darby and Sasha will too." Payson squeezed her friend's hand tightly. They stood side by side as Gengi performed the routine of her life – she received a 15.2. Payson walked over and hugged her tightly. Emily followed suit only because Payson was doing it. Her vision was a bit fuzzy.

Next were two women from Romania with dynamic tumbling. Payson whistled at how high they tumbled. Then, suddenly;

"Next on floor exercise Emily Kmetko from the United States of America" Emily lifted her head and walked slowly to the corner of the mat and saluted the judges. Her arms were aching, her head was pounding, her music started and she forced herself to run into her first tumbling pass. She felt slightly funny coming down from her double twisting double layout and she took a step backwards and rolled her ankle. She winced but kept going. She shut out the pain and somehow managed to complete her routine, once she saluted the judges she fell down. Darby and Sasha sprinted over to her.

"Emily – speak to me!" Sasha whispered fiercely.

Emily whimpered

"She's hardly conscious!" Darby yelled, motioning frantically for a doctor. Quickly two medics came and lifted her onto a stretcher, Darby ran out with them.

Sasha put his head in his hands. He'd landed another gymnast in hospital. He wanted to punch a wall at his stupidity. He'd known Emily was exhausted but he'd pushed her at training, even though she had the least difficult routine of the floor finalists and could rely on artistry. He wanted so badly to chase after her but he had to stay for Payson who was shaking. Fortunately she was last on floor so he had a while to talk to her.

"I didn't realise how tired she was." Payson whimpered. "I should have stopped her."

"Payson, listen to me. When you broke your back at nationals all those years ago – it was Emily who brought the others in and gave them a pep talk. She told them to be strong for you, because you wouldn't want them to miss out just because of you. I'm asking you to do that now. Emily would want you to go out there and kick arse. Am I clear?"

Payson looked down for a second, biting back tears. Then she looked Sasha in the eye "crystal clear." She whispered determinedly.

She walked over to the floor and performed her final routine. This time it was for Emily, her closest friend who was almost a sister who had been through hell and back to win Olympic gold. There was no holding back, she threw herself into her routine entirely. When she finished her routine, there was silence for a few seconds before the stadium erupted in applause. Sasha grinned – it was the best floor routine he'd ever seen. He went to hug his gymnast. After what seemed like an age her score was posted – a 16.3, giving Payson her third gold medal making her the most decorated female gymnast of the games. Emily's floor performance had just scraped her the bronze medal. Sasha picked Payson up and spun her around like he'd done hundreds of times, then he hugged her tightly. He desperately wanted to kiss her but he knew that the American team would be facing huge controversy anyway with both Emily and Kaylie being sick.

Lauren looked down at her phone "you won the bronze!" she said to Emily, who just smiled groggily. Her ankle was fractured and the doctor said she'd collapsed from exhaustion but otherwise she was ok. Darby kissed the top of Emily's head. "You are incredible doll."

Emily rolled her eyes "now I have to find my stupid tracksuit I don't particularly want to walk out in a hospital gown."

XXX

Kaylie rested her head on Kelly's shoulder while Emily, Payson, and Lauren were sprawled out on the floor of Payson's room.

"I can't believe it's over" Payson murmured. "We made it – together."

Lauren let out a sigh that was barely audible.

"Lauren, you did the best of all of us" Emily said "you came back with your head held high and I know I would not have made it without you. And I'm not just saying that, Lo – you are incredible."

Lauren wrapped her arms around Emily tightly, the tears that were always near the surface recently came down her cheeks, and before long Emily was crying too, from relief that the Olympics were over, from sadness that the Rock Rebels would never likely compete together again, to sadness for what Lauren was going through.

"Emily – I'm so sorry for the person that I was."

"None of that, it's forgotten. It's who you are that matters."

Lauren gave her friend a watery smile. "You are such a cheese."

"And you love me for it."

There was a knock on the door, Emily and Lauren dried their eyes and Kelly walked over to open it. She was taken aback to find four Olympic committee members staring back at her. "Hello – we are looking for Payson Keeler."

"That's me" Payson said softly, she got up and shook the hands of each of the men.

"Payson, we just wanted to let you know that we would like you to be the flag bearer for the United States. Your achievements and class have been a huge inspiration for young people throughout our country."

Payson put her hand over her mouth, and tears sprung into her eyes. "Of course, I would be honoured." She said softly.

XXX

Kelly zipped up her suitcase, she wasn't sure where she was going to go next. She had the choice of any university she wanted, Sasha and Marty had both offered her coaching positions and she had endorsement offers for Africa but nothing appealed to her. Gymnastics had been her entire life and she couldn't bear the thought of throwing herself into anything else just yet. She carefully placed her medals into their cases and put them in her backpack. She also put a photo Rosa had given her into it. She had placed her all-around medal round Kelly's neck and had taken a photo of her. She'd then engraved the photo frame _'I know you would never let me physically give you this medal so I thought this would be the next best thing. Thank you – love shortie.'_

"That was a courageous thing you did, Kelly."

Kelly spun around to see her mother, she forced herself to smile, although she didn't want to. "What was?"

"Giving up your spot in the all – around. A year ago I would have called you stupid but it was a very brave thing you did."

"She deserved it more than I did – the winner of trials deserves to compete in the AA, besides I had a very nice consolation prize."

"That you did."

"Ma?"

"Mmm"

"Do you want to travel around Europe with me for a couple of months? Just the two of us?"

Sheila beamed "of course, sweetheart if that's really what you want?"

"Yes Ma, it is."

XXX

"I don't want to tell her until you're completely well."

"Seriously I'm fine; I was just overtired is all."

"That's the understatement of the century."

Emily rolled her eyes. There were pictures all over the papers of her being carried off on a stretcher and then limping onto the podium "the way people were carrying on you'd think I was dying or something."

"It does make a good human interest story."

"Yes – I didn't realise how much" Emily was the shyest of the Olympians, Payson was the golden girl, Kelly was the popular girl next door, Kaylie was the brave returning champion, Rosa the cute young one, but Emily was the girl the press was most interested in, her rags to riches tale coupled with the fact her boyfriend was a rock star made her irresistible.

"Well I guess I should just give her the letter then." Darby said quietly. She walked out of the hallway and knocked on Jenna's door.

"Come in" Jenna said softly.

Darby opened the door, she was an Olympic silver medallist but she was terrified of this eight year old. She was so reserved. "Hi, how're you doing?"

Jenna looked up slowly "I'm ok" she said quietly her small face looking confused and slightly mistrustful. The look in her eyes made Darby want to cry.

Darby smiled weakly and sat beside Jenna on her bed "I have a letter for you Jen – it has some pretty big news, I don't know how you'll feel after you open it but I want you to know you can ask me any questions, and I'll promise I'll give you an honest answer, or I won't answer at all but I won't lie to you."

Jenna looked up suspiciously "why would you want to give me a letter?" she whispered – as a foster child she was not used to attention of any kind.

Emily put an arm around the younger girl with whom she related so well. "Just read it J – it will be worth it I promise."

Jenna took the envelope from Darby's outstretched hand and slowly opened it and began to read, her little face remained expressionless. Eventually she folded the letter and placed it carefully back into the envelope, stood up and walked quietly out without saying a word.

XXX

Lauren stared out to the Thames – it was an interesting river with all its history and she was glad she had the chance to explore London, regardless of the circumstances.

"So you've made your decision?" said a quiet voice.

Lauren turned to see Summer standing behind her in a blue dress.

Lauren nodded – she looked at the pills in her hand. She'd put off taking the anti-depressants during the games because she didn't want to worry about the side effects. "Yes I'll take them. I'm going to get well, and then I'm going to travel, and then I don't know I think I want to at least get that vault named after me."

Summer gave Lauren a long hug. "Yes you will."

"Thank you for everything Summer."

"Lauren, you're welcome – I'm so proud of the person you've become sugar. It's been an honour knowing you the past four years."

XXX

"Then what happened?" Damon asked Emily.

"Eventually she came back with Margi and actually hugged Darby. I've never seen her do that before."

"It must be a dream come true for her."

"I think so – but she'll miss Margi."

"Mmm" Emily was worried that they were going into dangerous territory about life after the Olympics, which she wasn't all that keen on thinking about. She knew she wanted to go to uni, but she'd just finished one of the most gruelling experiences someone could go through and she didn't really want to tackle a degree at the moment.

"D'you remember that time we were both in France and you snuck out to see me – and we said we'd meet under the Eiffel Tower?"

Emily smiled "yes – vividly" she'd forgotten how rebellious she used to be.

"I think we should go to France for a bit. Seeing as you'll be wearing gold."

"You were the only one who believed in me you know, the whole way through you stood by me." She leant over and kissed Damon softly.

Damon wrapped his arms around Emily and kissed the top of her head. The two of them sat like that for a long while and watched the sun set over the Thames. Looking back Emily would put that down as one of the perfect moments of her life.

**A/N I'm so sorry this took so long to update. Thank you for all your lovely reviews and being so patient. **

**I've not had the best couple of months – here's to 2013 being better than last year. Happy New Year everyone! This chapter is dedicated to everyone suffering from depression out there and to TWLOHA. I hope you all had a great Christmas. XXXX **** One more chapter**


	32. Chapter 32 - Epilogue

**Chapter 32 – Epilogue "Dance, put on your red shoes and dance"**

"Kiddo it's time for breakfast!"

I groaned, turned over and saw that there was light streaming though my windows. I swore under my breath I was going to be late for training! I rolled out of bed and stumbled over to my drawers and pulled out the first leo I saw. It was green with copious rhinestones. Normally I would be horrified but there was no time for that. Mum and I had _very_ different tastes in fashion and I'd only just managed to convince her that unlike multitudes of elite gymnasts, pink was not my colour at all, and I didn't do anything sparkly, but whatever, wearing lime green was worth it to avoid coach kicking my arse at practice. I whipped the leo on and then pulled my tracksuit out of my gym bag. I checked my phone to check the time 7.45 – I was screwed! Why had Mum let me sleep? Then I realised the date, the gym was closed today because of the wedding. I ran downstairs – I knew I looked ridiculous but my godmother was arriving this morning and I couldn't wait to see her.

"Jenna, sweetie!" Margi said warmly, her usual big grin was present and she wrapped me in a huge hug. "You're far too thin! I don't care if you've just qualified elite, you need to eat."

Mum rolled her eyes "she can eat after she's finished taking over the world with gymnastics." Mum had always been totally fine about whether or not I did gymnastics, having said that – she didn't go easy on me.

I gave Mum a kiss on the cheek, scoffed my breakfast and then went to my room to get into my dress.

XXX

I sat between Mum and Margi, Damon was at the front of the church: Razor, Brian, Austin, and Damon's cousin stood beside him. Damon looked more nervous than I'd ever seen him. His face was pale and his hands were gripped in front of him, his knuckles white. I found it almost funny how Damon could possibly imagine how Damon could believe Emily wouldn't show up. They were the most together couple I'd seen, well apart from my coaches, but they were different.

"Hi guys" I turned and saw my foster sister Larissa, she had a big grin on her face – she'd just finished her undergraduate degree in psychology. Her graduation ceremony was one of the few times I'd seen Margi cry, she shuffled over and sat beside me.

"Got you something" she said happily, and passed me a book.

I grinned "_Gourmet Rhapsody!_ Thank you!" I hugged her tightly. Larisa knew me perhaps better than anyone. Growing up with Margi, she'd been one of the few people who actually understood me. Well I had liked to believe that I was misunderstood anyway.

Emily and Damon had decided on a very traditional wedding, which was not like them, but I guess they'd both had such odd upbringings that they wanted something to vaguely resemble normal. So once we were all seated Damon's mother and stepfather entered, then Chloe. Once they sat down Celine Dion's 'Power of the Dream' in instrumental came on. I smiled, this was such an appropriate song for Damon and Emily. Then James and Cate walked down the aisle hand in hand. Cate was as flaxen haired as her parents, just like James was as dark as Damon, Kim and Mark grinned as their granddaughter walked past them, at four years old she could already read and cartwheel. James held a small wicker basket and Cate gently picked up the petals and tossed them, it was heart wrenchingly sweet.

Once the children had come about half way up the aisle, Kelly Parker entered. I was slightly terrified of her, she was a recently qualified lawyer, drop dead gorgeous and a double Olympic champion. She was wearing a midnight blue, knee length dress with a lilac sash, carrying daisies and lilac roses, and she wore her trademark enigmatic smile. Following her was Kaylie Cruz, unlike Kelly she was beaming. I had always felt comfortable around Kaylie. She had a way of lighting up any room she entered. Austin grinned at his long-time girlfriend, and, if he had his way, soon to be fiancée. He was coaching full time at the Rock, but had also been to varsity and done physiotherapy while Kaylie trained to be a teacher. Kaylie joined Kelly at the altar and kissed Austin briefly on the cheek before turning to face the congregation.

The third bridesmaid was Lauren Tanner, Mum called her the bravest person she'd ever met, but when I asked her why she just said that I was too young to understand and that she'd tell me when I was older. Lauren's long blonde hair was lightly curled, her make up done perfectly, and nails manicured expensively. Many of the young gymnasts in the church watched her in awe. She paused by the third row from the front, and kissed Summer on the cheek. The older woman shed a tear. I didn't understand Lauren and Summer's relationship, but it was almost like Summer was Lauren's mother, I guess in the way that Margi was mine. They weren't related by blood, but by something much stronger. A friendship that would last forever.

Payson Keeler was the matron of honour. She was also my coach. My jaw dropped as she entered the church, in a dress similar to the other bridesmaids, except that it was longer. I had seen her mostly in tracksuits, her hair tied in a messy bun, without make up, yelling instructions at us. But now she was, well, _stunning_. She carried herself with poise and determination, and for the first time, I saw why the gymnastics world was so obsessed with Payson Keeler, the comeback queen and America's sweetheart. Kim and Mark Keeler held hands and stared at their daughter with tears in their eyes. Payson looked at her younger sister, Becca and winked at her, Becca poked out her tongue.

Once Payson reached the altar, the wedding march began to play, and we all stood and faced the aisle. Sasha Belov, my other coach, began to walk Emily down the aisle. Emily looked stunning, her short brown hair had curly tendrils around her face. She had a sheer lace veil that fell just above the sweetheart neckline of her ivory dress that had a long train. I looked at Mum and was shocked to see that she was crying, Mum never cried! Chloe and Larisa had started crying too. "She's come through so much" Darby whispered to me, "she's come so far – my amazing girl."

Emily reached Damon – there was a fire in her eyes, as there was in his. It was the same look that Payson and Sasha gave each other. The look of soulmates. When they promised to love and cherish each other, I found myself crying too. Then they kissed – long and passionately. The church erupted in cheers. The most rebellious of the Rock Rebels, and the international rockstar who started out at the Pizza Shack had made it at last.

XXX

The reception screamed of Chloe. Everything was blue and lilac. I had never seen so many balloons, or so much champagne in one place. Chloe and Steve were dancing _very_ closely together, and the Rock girls were all sitting on the hall stage laughing with each other. They were an amazing bunch, two doctors, a teacher, a lawyer, and the most successful coach the world had ever seen – and yet when they were together they were just normal people, albeit slightly insane. The men were watching them dreamily, as if they couldn't believe how lucky they were. Sasha looked the happiest of all of them, Cate was curled up in his lap, while his son Saul was curled up in Austin's.

Brian was in deep conversation with Payson's younger sister Becca. Brian had just graduated from Harvard and was now at Yale medical school. Chloe was going to have two children as doctors. Becca was about as different as Damon as possible, she had taken a big break after competing level ten, travelling and doing seasonal work. Now she worked for Habitat for Humanity.

Razor, one of Damon's band mates was emcee-ing "ladies and gentlemen traditionally I would ask the father of the bride to share a dance with his daughter, but today we have something much more special. Could you please clear the floor for Sasha to share a dance with his gymnast."

Sasha beamed and walked over to Emily – "you're stuck now." Sasha whispered in Emily's ear.

Emily raised an eyebrow "I feel a life lesson coming on, but I supposed you've done enough to warrant my attention. Why am I stuck?"

"Because we're waltzing, and the lady in a waltz always follows. For once you _have_ to trust me."

"I trust you, Sasha, it's taken me a while to realise it but I'd trust you with my life."

Emily's words almost brought Sasha to tears, he felt that the words were so undeserved. He kissed Emily on the cheek. "I know that I'm not that much older than you, and that I'm married to your best friend, but you've been like a daughter to me. It has been an honour to watch you grow. Marty Walsh, despite his copious faults, did a good thing when he took you on at the Rock."

"And Steve Tanner, despite his faults did a good thing brining you to the Rock."

They continued to dance in silence for a while, their gymnastics training helping them to dance gracefully, Razor's voice gently hovering between and through the sound of his gentle guitar.

Eventually they were joined by Payson and Mark, Lauren and Steve, Kaylie and her father. Emily glanced to the side of the room. Kelly was standing there, thoroughly examining her nails. She gently placed her hand on Sasha's shoulder. "Dance with Kelly"

Sasha nodded and walked over to the striking brunette. "May I dance with you?"

Kelly rolled her tongue over her teeth slowly, an action she did when she was thinking hard about what to say. Eventually she spoke. "No thank you Sasha, it's kind of you to offer, but I don't need your pity."

"Who said anything about pity? I danced with Emily."

"Yes but Emily's yours, you trained her from scratch. Same with Payson, even the other two. But I was always the interloper on the team."

Sasha smelt the alcohol on her breath, that must be what was bringing up the old resentments to the surface.

"For someone who doesn't want pity, I sense a lot of self-pity." Sasha said quietly and angrily. "Do you honestly feel, after all this time that you're not valued by us? I know your parents are not the prime examples of what a good family is, but look around you. These girls…women care about you. I care about you."

Kelly sighed. "It's not the same, and I just feel jealous that everyone here has at least one good parent, or someone like a parent, and then I feel pathetic for feeling sorry for myself. I'm a freaking lawyer and Olympic champion and all I want is my Daddy." She scowled.

"I understand, truly. I would give my gold medals for a good relationship with my father. But Kelly, can't you remember the Rock Awards after the Olympics?"

Kelly reluctantly smiled at the memory. She, to her great surprise, had won the Rocky Award – for congeniality. Basically for the leadership she displayed at the Olympics. She had cried when Sasha had announced the award, it had meant more to her than either of her gold medals. Sasha had then read out quotes from each of her teammates, appreciating her friendship and encouragement. Kelly had felt truly accepted for the first time in her life.

"Of course I remember, and sorry for being a brat. Of course I'll dance with you. I'm better than Kmetko anyway so you'd better keep up." She pulled Sasha's arm and dragged him to the centre of the dance floor.

Emily went to find Rosa, the youngest member of the gold medal winning team was sitting next to Summer. Summer saw Emily coming and smiled. Emily grinned back. She couldn't have asked for a better mother for James.

"I'll leave you two girls to talk." Summer said and left to speak with Kim. The two women had never seen eye to eye, but they had the interests of their children at heart.

Rosa was still quiet, but her shyness had developed into an enigmatic, reserved persona that meant men tripped over themselves to talk to her, but as a concert clarinet player she was too busy with travel to bother with men.

"Nice party Kmetko."

"Thanks, blame my mother and Damon, I was perfectly happy to get married in my pyjamas in a registry office at lunchtime but musicians tend to have a penchant for theatrics."

Rosa pinched Emily's arm.

"You seem so sweet, and then you do stuff like that." Emily sighed "you used to be so sweet and shy."

"And then you lot happened to me."

"I blame Lauren, and Kelly."

"Me too."

The girls sat in companionable silence for a while, watching the fathers dance with their daughters, and Kelly dance with Sasha.

Rosa quietly raised her glass. "Here's to family, the type formed by friendship."

"I'll drink to that." Emily said, she clinked her glass against Rosa's and they watched Razor sing soulfully into his microphone. Life wasn't perfect, and it certainly wasn't easy. But in the end, Emily mused – none of that mattered if you had people you cared about.

_**~~~/~~~**__**THE END**__**~~~/~~~**_

**A/N I can't believe this story is over! It's taken over a year! Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! Reading your reviews and seeing the number of views on each chapter make all the writing worthwhile. I hope you enjoyed reading **_**The Pied Piper**_** as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**Best, Alix. Xx **


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